Typography

A Thesis submitted to the Faculty
of the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences

for the degree of
Master of Fine Arts in Graphic Design
Master of Fine Arts Degree
Graphic Design
School of Design
College of Imaging Arts and Sciences
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rita Yu
May 17, 2013
Tailored Type
Studying the Effects of Typography in Clothing Brand Personalities
Thesis Committee Approvals
Chief Advisor
Nancy Ciolek, Associate Professor
School of Design, Graphic Design
Chief Advisor Date
Associate Advisor
Lorrie Frear, Associate Professor
Associate Advisor Date
Associate Advisor
Carol Fillip, Assistant Professor
Reproduction
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Signature of Author Date
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Signature of Author Date
Abstract
Understanding how typography infuences consumer perception and brand reception
is important to successfully employ typographic strategies that positively infuence
consumers. Utilizing typography to effectively express the intended meaning through
text and perception requires extensive thought and skill. The purpose of this thesis
was to examine whether specifc typefaces used for clothing brands deliver particular
brand personality traits. An online survey investigating this relationship between typography
and clothing brand personality was created and made available to voluntary participants.
A total of 251 usable data sets were collected and statistically analyzed. The fndings
of this study provided an insight on the association between the choice of a typeface,
brand personality, age, gender, and knowledge of typography. More specifcally, this study
found that perceived typeface personalities were infuenced by age and gender,
but were not affected by the knowledge of typography. The results were also used
to develop an interactive website that helps designers choose typefaces that express
the intended message and appeal to their target audience. The Tailored Type website
provided a unique, clear, and easy to follow guide for designers as well as marketers.
Tailored Type Website: www.ritayu.com/thesis/index.html
Keywords
Graphic Design, Brand Personality, Typography, Logotypes, Clothing Brands,
Interactive, Guide, Survey Data
Contents
1.0 Introduction 1
1.1 Situation Analysis
1.2 Problem Statement
2.0 Survey of Literature 4
3.0 Methodology 16
3.1 Brand Personality
3.2 Typographic Design
3.3 Survey
3.4 Data Analysis
3.5 Results
4.0 Application 23
4.1 Tailored Type Logo
4.2 Interactive Website
5.0 Usability Testing 27
6.0 Conclusion 28
7.0 Endnotes 29
8.0 Bibliography 30
Appendices 31
A1 Original Thesis Proposal
A2 Institutional Review Board Documentation
A3 Blank Questionnaire
A4 Survey Data
A5 Logo Development
A6 Interactive Website Examples
A7 Final Application
A8 User Feedback
A9 Acknowledgments
Tailored Type Introduction 1
1 Introduction
Typography is a key subject in the study of graphic design. It is used as a tool
to impart the importance or hierarchy of the information in a design. Graphic designers
use typography to communicate, support, or reinforce a message in a design through
the connotative meaning of typefaces. The premise of typography is that different
typefaces carry different connotations and can have different effects on the readability,
legibility, interpretation, and on the impact of the words and concepts they represent.
The choice of typeface is particularly important when designing a brand logo
or brand name. Wheeler indicated in her book that the successful brand identity systems
embody how a brand would like to be perceived by consumers and should express the
unique vision, goals, values, voice, and personality of the organization.
1
Lupton suggests
that a logo or logotype is essentially the cornerstone to every brand identity system;
therefore, understanding the meaning and personality of the typeface used to create
a logotype is important in designing an identity system that effectively represents
a brand.
2
Designers usually make purposeful typeface selections to develop an association
between content and visual form. In order to effectively convey an intended message,
designers often incorporate various typographic forms such as style (serif or sans serif),
weight (light or bold), width (condensed or extended), spacing (tight or loose),
case (upper or lower), and size.
This thesis investigates the relationship between typography and clothing brand personality.
It examines whether specifc typefaces used for clothing brands deliver particular
brand personality traits; the effects of gender, age, and knowledge of graphic design
are also studied. After the selection of sixteen personality traits and eight clothing brands,
an online survey instrument was then created and made available to individuals
who voluntarily participated in the study. A total of 251 usable data sets were collected
and statistically analyzed. The results were used to develop a digital interactive guide
meant to help designers choose typefaces that are better suited to the target audience
and express the intended message.
There are several published studies on the topics of brand personality and typeface
personality. But, the specifc relationships between the typeface characteristics and
perceived clothing brand personality traits, and the effects of gender, age and knowledge
of graphic design have not been explored. This thesis provides valuable information
for the designer in identifying typographic elements, which represent a certain brand
personality. This thesis also enables clothing companies to employ typographic strategies
that portray positive messages to consumers about their brand.
1.1 Situation Analysis
Typography is the art of arranging letters to communicate ideas. The letters used
can take on different forms according to the variations in letterforms. A number
of published research studies point out that every typeface has a unique personality
and has the ability to invoke different feelings and moods.
3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
There are also several
theses about the association between human personality attributes and typography.
9, 10, 11

Thus, the choice of a typeface is critical in delivering the intended message. Since a brand
name is one of the most valuable assets owned by a corporation, companies spend
a considerable amount of effort to fnd the best typeface in order to generate a unique brand
identity and communicate with their consumers. In fact, there are studies that suggest that
the typeface personality is extended to the brand personality.
12, 13, 14
The way consumers
perceive brand personality through typography also prompts some thesis studies.
15, 16, 17

Researchers suggest several dimensions that measure human personality traits as tools
to measure typeface personality. While most of these measurements are relevant to brand
personality, they do not capture the entire scope; for example, consumer perceptions
are usually affected by age, gender, and social-economic status, in addition to the perceived
brand personality from the typeface used. This creates a big obstacle in constructing
a general association between typeface personalities and brand personalities.
Due to the advancements in technology, there are vast quantities of typefaces available
to professionals as well as the general public. Studies of association between typefaces
and brand perceptions have increasingly gained attention among researchers and
corporations. However, the impact of typeface selections on the consumer perceptions
of a brand has not been totally understood. Furthermore, there is a void in the research
concerning the role of age, gender, and knowledge of typography.
1.2 Problem Statement
Will this study of the psychology of typography and its infuences on clothing brand
personality and consumer perception help designers have a better understanding
of typeface personalities and how to incorporate them into effective design solutions?
Although typography has an ability to imply meaning through text, perception, and application,
applying it effectively to express the intended meaning requires extensive thought and skill.
Understanding how typography infuences consumer perception and brand reception is critical
not only in strengthening a brands identity but also in enabling companies to successfully
employ typographic strategies that positively infuence consumers. Due to typographys ability
to adapt to situations and alter perceptions, it can help brands develop stronger identities
through typeface characteristics and the associated personality that best represent a brands
personality. Therefore, having an understanding of typographic principles and the psychology
behind typefaces can help companies communicate the intended message to the audience
and form better relationships with the consumers simultaneously.
For my thesis, I propose a case study that explores the effects of typography on brand
personality and consumer perception. To further narrow down the scope of my research
to a more manageable level, I have chosen the clothing industry for my case study.
Specifcally, my research aims to answer the following questions:
1 Are there specifc typeface personality traits that are more suitable for low versus
high-end clothing brands perceived by consumers?
2 Will a persons knowledge of typography affect how typeface personality is perceived
in brand personality?
3 Will the perception of brand personality refected through a typeface personality
differ between male and female consumers?
4 Will the perception of brand personality refected through a typeface personality
differ between four age groups (18 to 22, 23 to 30, 31 to 50, and 51 and older)?
The results of this study provide insight on the association between the choice
of a typeface, brand personality, age, gender, and knowledge of typography.
Tailored Type Survey of Literature 4
2 Survey of Literature
1 Using Type Font Characteristics to Communicate Brand Personality of New Brands
By B. Grohmann, J.L. Giese, and I. D. Parkman
Journal of Brand Management. Vol. 19, 2012

The study found that type characteristics (naturalness, elaborate, harmony, fourish, and weight)
infuenced brand personality perceptions (excitement, sincerity, sophistication, competence,
and ruggedness). The authors indicated that the effect of naturalness in type designs was a key
to elicit brand personality dimensions. In addition, the study found that the infuence of type
color on brand personality perception was independent of the impact of the type itself.
2 Fortune Favors the Bold (and the Italicized): Effects of Disfuency
on Educational Outcomes
By Connor Diemand-Yauman, Daniel M. Oppenheimer, Erikka B. Vaughan
Cognition, 2010
web.princeton.edu/sites/opplab/papers/Diemand-Yauman_Oppenheimer_2010.pdf
Date of Access: September 15, 2012

The authors in this study found that student retention of material in a wide range of subjects
and diffculty levels could be signifcantly improved by presenting the reading material in a
slightly harder to read typeface. But, the authors also indicated that the variation of typefaces
should be within the normal bounds. They further suggested that the cognitive interventions
were cost effective and the potential for improving educational practices was enormous.
This article related typography psychology to an education outcome, which was different than
other studies focused on corporations and thus helped balance my thesis.
Journal Articles
Lupton described typography as the design of letterforms and their organization in space.
18

When people read words, oftentimes they do not realize that they are also reacting
to the way those words actually look. Graphic designers assert that different typefaces carry
different connotations and can infuence the interpretations and concepts they represent.
In order to communicate effectively, the perceived impression of the typefaces used must
be the same for both the reader and the writer. The signifcant impact of typography
has generated many studies of typographic applications in print, digital, and branding uses.
Today, companies use various typefaces to create a distinctive visual image and invest
a signifcant amount in the design and copyright of trademarked fonts. These trademarked
fonts or brand logos affect how consumers perceive the brand. That is, there is a strong
relationship between typeface and the perceived brand personality.
The literature research for this study are grouped below according to the type of source:
3 A Charming Little Cabernet: Effects of Wine Label Design on Purchase Intent
and Brand Personality
By C. A.Boudreaux and S. E. Palmer.
International Journal of Wine Business Research, Vol.19, No 3, 2007

The authors conducted research to examine the impact of brand personality on purchase
intent and the infuence of three design elements (color, illustration, and design layout)
of wine labels on brand personality. It was found that the illustration used on the label
had the greatest impact on both purchase intent and perceptions of brand personality.

4 Audience Perceptions of Fonts in Projected PowerPoint Text Slides
By Jo Mackiewicz
Technical Communication, Vol. 54, No. 3, August 2007

The author examined the perceptions of 10 common fonts displayed in projected
PowerPoint text slides. These fonts were grouped into sans serif and serif categories.
Comparisons between these two groups of fonts were made based on the ratings
of four font personalities: comfortable-to-read, professional, interesting, and attractive.
The same four variables were also used to compare the ratings of the 10 individual fonts.
The author had several interesting fndings from the study. For example, she concluded
that the fonts with characteristics that contribute to perceptions of readability were likely
to contribute to perceptions of professionalism. This article would be helpful for anyone
who uses PowerPoint for presentations.

5 How to Use Five Letterforms to Gauge a Typefaces Personality:
a Research-Driven Method
By Jo Mackiewicz
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, Vol. 35, No. 3, 2005

The author suggested a research-driven method that can be used to analyze a typefaces
personality that matched the intended tone of a document. More specifcally, the study
described how to analyze a typefaces uppercase J and its lowercase a, g, e, and n letterforms
to gauge a typefaces personality. But, only two personality attributes (friendliness
and professionalism) were studied in this article. This article was intended for technical
communicators, both professionals and students. This was an interesting article and
may be a good source of reference for my thesis topic because it studied the anatomical
features that generated different kinds of personality perceptions.

6 Impression Management Using Typeface Design
By Pamela Henderson, Joan L. Giese, and Joseph A. Cote
Journal of Marketing, Oct. 2004, Vol. 68, No. 4 pp. 6072

This article gave guidelines to help managers select typefaces that affect impressions.
Particularly, the article addressed four questions: 1) What are the strategically relevant
impressions created by typeface design? 2) What characteristics are most useful
for describing typeface design? 3) What is the impact of design on each kind of impression?
4) What guidelines should corporations follow to achieve their communication goals through
the use of typeface design? The fndings suggested that a typeface was a medium with
its own message; thus, it was important for corporations to choose a typefaces message
and impression carefully and to be consistent across all communications in which
a corporation engaged in. This article showed that there was a link between the typefaces
used and the responses or impressions (e.g. pleasing, reassuring, prominent)
it generated in the business feld.

7 What Technical Writing Students Should Know About Typeface Personality
By Jo Mackiewicz
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, Vol. 34, No. 1 & 2, 2004

This article intended to help technical writing students understand that every typeface
has a different personality. It described the relationship between typeface personality
and its contribution to a documents effect. It also explained the difference between types
functional and semantic properties, the difference between type family and type personality,
and the contribution of a typefaces anatomy to its personality. The author concluded that
by understanding and considering these important issues, technical writing students could
make informed decisions about the typeface they selected for their documents
and convey their intended rhetoric effectively. This article pointed out that understanding
the typeface personality was important when communicating a message in text and helped
me understand another facet of how typefaces affected communication.
8 Do Brand Personality Scales Really Measure Brand Personality?
By Audrey Azoulay and Jean-Neil Kapferer
Brand Management, Vol. 11, No. 2, 2003

The authors argued that the current scales of brand personality that have been widely
used in academic circles measure brand identity, which included but did not equate brand
personality. The authors challenged Aakers defnition of brand personality, which was
defned as a set of human characteristics associated with a brand. Aakers defnition
of brand personality included any non-physical attribute associated with a brand such as
gender, social class, or intellectual ability, and yet psychologists have worked over the years
to exclude these factors from personality defnitions. Thus, some of the adjectives used
in Aakers personality dimensions and facets were irrelevant in describing brand personality.
The authors suggested defning brand personality as the unique set of human personality
traits both applicable and relevant to brands.

9 The Rhetoric of Typography: The Persona of Typeface and Text
By Eva R. Brumberger
Technical Communication, Vol. 50, No. 2, May 2003

The author tried to address the psychological aspects of typeface design and usage
in her article. More specifcally, this study investigated whether particular typefaces and
text passages were consistently perceived to have particular personas. She frst established
persona profles for a series of typefaces, and then she set up persona profles for text
passages. She argued that if personas can be identifed for both text passages and typefaces,
then subsequent studies can pair texts and typefaces according to their persona profles.
The author suggested that the investigation of the ways in which persona matches
or mismatches affect readers interactions with a document can also be conducted.
This article helped me in determining a strategic way to match typefaces with text.

10 All Dressed Up With Something to Say: Effects of Typeface
Semantic Associations on Brand Perceptions and Consumer Memory
By Terry L. Childers and Jeffrey Jass
Journal of Consumer Psychology, Vol. 12, No. 2, 2002

The authors developed a conceptual framework that dealt with the effects of typeface
semantic within a marketing context. The objectives of the study were to 1) examine
the semantic nature of typography, 2) investigate the situations under which typeface
cues in advertising serve as infuential cues for consumer in forming perceptions
of brands, and 3) relate the effect of typeface semantic associations to consumer memory
for advertised brand claims. The authors concluded that typefaces convey meanings
that have the potential to signifcantly infuence important marketing outcomes. In addition,
they concluded that typeface semantic associations affected how consumers perceived
brands and what consumers remembered about brands. This study demonstrated
the link between typography and consumer psychology, and was helpful for me as I started
working on my thesis because typeface choices were also important in brand identity.
In general, the article would be a good reference for anyone who works for any marketing
communication team, including graphic designers.

11 Dimensions of Brand Personality
By J. L. Aaker
Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 34, August 1997

The author developed a framework to describe and measure the personality of a brand
in fve core dimensions. Each dimension had a set of facets: sincerity (down-to-earth,
honest, wholesome, cheerful), excitement (daring, spirited, imaginative, up-to-date),
competence (reliable, intelligent, successful), sophistication (upper class, charming),
and ruggedness (outdoorsy, tough). Each facet was then measured by a set of traits;
each trait was measured by a fve-point scale (1=not descriptive at all, 5= extremely
descriptive). The facets and the traits were: down-to-earth (down-to-earth, family-oriented,
small-town), honest (honest, sincere, real), wholesome (wholesome, original), cheerful
(cheerful, sentimental, friendly), daring (daring, trendy, exciting), spirited (spirited, cool,
young), and imaginative (imaginative, unique).
12 Language as Typography
By David Damico
MFA Thesis, University of Houston
May 2008
www.ddamico.net/Graduate/Graduate/Home_fles/Thesis%20Final-Damico.pdf

The author addressed typography as it was related to language and human personality
attributes. He believed that typography was a language of its own. The essential point
of the thesis was that there was a relationship between the original intent of a particular
letterform as defned by the designer, and the subjective interpretations assigned
to it by users. The author stated that an idea passes from the mind to the lips, continuing
its journey through written language as typography. There were several points included
in this thesis that were helpful to me in a relatively broader study of typography personality.

13 Psychology of On-screen Type: Investigations Regarding Typeface Personality,
Appropriateness, and Impact on Document Perception
By Audrey Dawn Shaikh
PhD dissertation, Wichita State University
May 2007
soar.wichita.edu/dspace/handle/10057/1109

The purpose of the research was to study the perception of on-screen typefaces.
This research project consisted of three studies, and data collected online from
379 people were included in this project. Study 1 was to determine if participants
consistently attributed personality traits to typefaces viewed on-screen. Study 2 was
to determine if participants viewed typefaces as appropriate for certain on-screen
documents. Study 3 was to determine the effect of perceived appropriateness of typeface
on perception of the designers ethos. The conclusions were based on statistical data
analysis of the responses from the participants. This paper provided a good source
of reference on the background and approach in doing further research on typography
personality. But, I needed some help on the statistical analysis part of this paper.
This paper also helped my thesis in the area of on-screen type in relation
to my interactive application idea.
Theses
14 Brand Personality: Consumers Perceptions of Color Used in Brand Logos
By Jessica Lee Ridgway
MS Thesis, University of Missouri
May 2011

The author used the theories of anthropomorphism and associative learning to explain
how consumers related to brand, perceived brand personality, and formed relationships.
She collected 184 responses from her survey through Facebook and the results showed that
color in logos played a signifcant role in how the consumers perceived a brands personality.
She also found that consumers viewed a color as more appropriate for a logo when brand
personality and the color used were congruent.

15 How Favourable Attitudes are Formed when the Semantic Associations
of a Logotype are Congruent with Brand Personality
By E. J. Mikaere
MCGD Thesis, The University of Waikato
February 2011
researchcommon.waikato.ac.nz/

The author frst created two fctitious tea brand names using two typefaces, pleasing
and engaging and reassuring based on the framework designed by Henderson.
19

Then two brand slogans were created by the author that were meant to be congruent with
semantic associations of their logotypes. Thus, there were four combinations of logotypes
and brand slogans, two were congruent pairs and two were incongruent pairs. Surveys using
the Likert scale were conducted to collect data on the participants brand attitudes. Based
on the survey results, the conclusion was mixed. That is, the consumers did not always have
a more positive attitude towards a brand when the semantic associations of the branding slogan
and a logotype were congruent with each other. It should be noted that the survey results were
complied in percentages, and there was no statistical analysis conducted for this research study.
16 Human Emotion Response to Typographic Design
By Beth Elynn Koch
PhD dissertation, University of Minnesota
December 2011
ProQuest LLC. Ann Arbor, Michigan

The study investigated whether emotion was involved in interpreting different typeface designs,
whether people had similar interpretation of the visual typeface designs, and whether the
typeface construction features were related to the emotion responses. The author
used an online animated interactive response survey to collect data from 42 participants.
She chose six typeface designs: Helvetica bold, Helvetica ultra light, Helvetica bold extended,
Helvetica condensed bold, Helvetica rounded bold, and Glypha medium, and 12 emotions:
desire, satisfaction, pride, hope, joy, fascination, disgust, dissatisfaction, shame, fear, sadness,
and boredom for the study. The fndings of this study showed that different typeface design
features generated different human emotions and people reported similar emotion responses
to typographic design features.

17 Discovering Logo Design TrendsMethodology and Practice:
An Analysis of the Logos of Top Advertising Spenders in the American Market
By Angela Stahle
MA Thesis, Georgetown University
April 2002

The thesis tested the hypothesis that the logo designs of Americas most marketed brands
would show evidence of design trends in terms of at least one design characteristic.
The author hoped that the results could be used as the basis for logo design recommendations
for creating logos that were keeping with the trends. She obtained the top two hundred
megabrands in terms of recorded media spending in the US market from AdAge.com
and categorized their logos in terms of the 12 design characteristics. These 12 design
characteristics were: the types of logo used, whether the logo was bounded (within a shape),
whether the logo used serif or sans serif fonts, how the logo used capitalization, what style
of font appeared in the logo, how many colors were used in the design, which primary
and secondary colors were used in the design, which color palette was chosen for the design,
how many elements were present in the logo, whether a character of a mascot comprised
part of the logo, whether a referential symbol comprised part of the logo, whether
a shape that was not part of a referential symbol or letter comprised part of the logo,
and which shapes were used in the design.

The results were organized in a table that showed the percentage of logos exhibiting each
of the characteristics. The study found evidence of design trends. For example, 70% of the
logos had both text and graphic elements, were unbounded, and used a sans-serif typeface.
More than 83% of the logos used print-style (not handwritten or script) fonts, and most
of them used either all capital letters or mixed case capitalization.
18 The Psychology of Fonts
By Emily Matthews
December 2011
www.onextrapixel.com/2011/12/13/the-psychology-of-fonts/

The author argued that font psychology played an important role in the reaction of readers,
whether in emails, resumes, menus, documents, or websites. She used several examples
to illustrate that readers reacted psychologically to the appearance of a text. Thus,
it was important for the designers to consider the emotions that words could evoke
in readers. The examples given in this article were interesting and could have been
useful if supporting documents were included.
19 The Effect of Typeface on the Perception of Email
By A. Dawn Shaikh, Doug Fox, and Barbara S. Chaparro
Usability News, Vol. 9, Issue 1, January 2007
Wichita State University
www.surl.org/usabilitynews/91/pof2.asp

This study examined the impact that a font had on the readers perception of an email.
A survey of 120 people was conducted. These participants were shown the same email
in one of three fonts (Calibri, Comic Sans, and Gigi) and then flled out a survey when they
were fnished reading. There were two sections of the survey: the frst section asked
the participants to describe the persona of the email using a list of 15 adjectives; the second
section asked the participants to evaluate the perception of the authors ethos and the
perception of the intended audience. The fnal conclusion was based on the summary
of the data collected. The approach and methodology used for this article was very similar
to the article entitled, Perception of Fonts: Perceived Personality Traits and Uses in 2006
by the same author. This was another study that supported the idea that typefaces had an
effect on communication. Although this study focused on email, which was not the main
interest of my thesis, it was still relevant and informational regarding typeface perception.

Online Resources
20 Perception of Fonts: Perceived Personality Traits and Uses
By A. Dawn Shaikh, Barbara S. Chaparro, and Doug Fox
Usability News, Vol. 8, Issue 1, February 2006
www.surl.org/usabilitynews/81/personalityoffonts.asp

The objective of this study was to determine if certain personalities and uses were related
to various fonts. The fndings were based on a survey result of 561 participants. The participants
were asked to rate the personality of 20 fonts using 15 adjectives. They also rated the
appropriateness of usage (e.g. Website, business documents childrens book, E-greeting)
for these 20 fonts. The article provided some guidance on choosing the font that was best
suited to different personality expressions. This study was useful for anyone who is interested
in selecting the most effective font to use. The survey designed for this study was used
as a reference for my thesis.

21 Graphic Design Referenced
By Bryony Gomez-Palacio and Armin Vit
Rockport Publishers, Beverly 2012

The book provided an overview of the various elements that made up the graphic design
profession. It documented the historical moments, landmark projects, and prominent
practitioners in the feld of graphic design. The frst chapter laid out the foundations of graphic
design. The second chapter explored the knowledge using sources such as educational institutes,
magazines, and books. The third chapter gathered the representative works of infuential
practitioners over the years. The last chapter highlighted some iconic works that revealed
the evolution of graphic design.

22 Stop Think Go, Do: How Typography & Graphic Design Infuence Behavior
By Steven Heller and Mirko Ilic
Rockport Publishers, Beverly 2012

Heller and Ilic focused on eight behavioral principles that they believed to be at the core
of most design work: inform, advocate, play, caution, entertain, express, educate, and transform.
They used hundreds of examples and presented an interesting way of categorizing the variety
of goals a work of design may pursue, but I wished each section had more text that went into
more depth about the examples and principles.
Books
23 Type Matters!
By Jim Williams
Merrell Publishers Limited, London 2012

The book was a good reference tool and provided brief explanations with large diagrams
and examples. As an introductory text, I thought it was interesting and useful to see
a different approach in presenting the information. However, many Bitstream fonts
were used instead of typeface names.

24 Designing Brand Identity, 2nd Edition
By Alina Wheeler
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken 2006

The book was a complete guide to creating, building, and maintaining strong brands.
It was divided into three parts: perception, process, and practice. Part one explained
the difference between brand and brand identity, and laid out the ideals and fundamentals
of brand identity. Part two presented fve distinct brand identity design processes:
conducting research, clarifying strategy, designing identity, creating touch points,
and managing assets. Part three showcased highly successful projects; for each of these
cases, the book outlines the project goal, the process and strategy, creative solution,
and the results. Wheeler effectively used these cases as examples to demonstrate what
it took to create, design, and build a successful brand identity. This book provided readers
a step by step, helpful and practical structure for the branding process.
25 The Brand Gap, Revised Edition
By Marty Neumeier
New Riders Publisher, Berkeley 2006

Neumeier argued that a brand is not a logo nor a corporate identity system. Rather,
he argued that a brand was a persons gut feeling about a product, service, or company.
He indicated that a brand is not what you say it is; it is what consumers say it is. Neumeier
suggested fve disciplines of branding: differentiate, collaborate, innovate, validate,
and cultivate. In addition, Neumeier believed that branding was a process that could
be studies, analyzed, learned, taught, replicated, and managed.
26 Thinking with Type, 2nd Edition
By Ellen Lupton
Princeton Architectural Press, New York 2004

Lupton provided clear and understandable explanations of working with type, such as small
details and information that designers should know when choosing a typeface for a design
solution. The book was educational and gave many visual examples to help further explain
and support the information.

27 Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works, 2nd Edition
By Erik Spiekermann and E. M. Ginger
Adobe Press, Berkeley 2002

This introductory book about typography touched upon the personalities of typefaces
and the differences in web typography and other forms of online text display. The authors
used more humor in their writing compared to other introductory typography books.
28 Type and Image
By Philip B. Meggs
Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York 1989

Meggs believed that graphic design had unique purposes and visual properties. He believed
that it used signs, symbols, words, and pictures to deliver a message. The book explained
the elements of graphic design, the fusion of type and image, the use of graphic space,
the nature and the importance of resonance in graphic design, and the design process.
The book was both educational and inspirational.

Tailored Type Methodology 16
3 Methodology
The primary objective of this study was to investigate how typographic design affects clothing
brand personality. More specifcally, the study focused on four research questions:
1 Are there specifc typeface personality traits that are more suitable for low versus high-end
clothing brands perceived by consumers?
2 Will a persons knowledge of typography affect how typeface personality is perceived
in brand personality?
3 Will the perception of brand personality refected through a typeface personality differ
between male and female consumers?
4 Will the perception of brand personality refected through a typeface personality differ
between four age groups (18 to 22, 23 to 30, 31 to 50, and 51 and older)?
In order to test the hypotheses in this study, an online survey was conducted. Eight typographic
logo designs were developed and sixteen brand personalities were used in the questionnaire.
IBM SPSS Statistics software was used to perform statistical analyses on the survey data and
conclusions were made for the four hypotheses. The results also provided the information
to create an interactive guide to help designers choose a typeface in developing a brand logo
that is tailored to a specifc target group of consumers.
3.1 Brand Personality
A brand personality is a set of human characteristics that are attributed to a brand name.
The most common instrument used to measure brand personality is Aakers Brand Personality
Scale. Aaker defned fve dimensions of brand personality as sincerity, excitement, competence,
sophistication, and ruggedness.
20
Sincerity was used to describe a brand that is genuine,
kind, family-oriented, and thoughtful. Excitement captured a brand that is carefree, spirited,
and youthful, whereas competence indicated a brand that was dependable, successful,
accomplished, and infuential. Sophistication described a brand that was elegant and glamorous,
while ruggedness was denoted by such characteristics as roughness, masculinity,
and toughness. These fve dimensions of brand personality were used in this study
to categorize brands by the personality traits perceived by the typography used. In Askers study,
there were 42 personality traits listed, however, in an attempt to avoid respondent fatigue,
16 personality traits, which were relatable and appropriate to both clothing and typography,
were selected for my thesis. The 16 personality traits were casual, cheerful, confdent,
contemporary, exciting, family-oriented, friendly, feminine, glamorous, masculine, reliable,
sexy, sophisticated, tough, unique, and young.
3.2 Typographic Design
High-end
Low-end
After a review of numerous existing high-end and low-end clothing brands, eight were
selected for this study. Within the eight brands, four were considered high-end and four
considered low-end, relative to each other. These eight brands include Alfani, Michael Kors,
Perry Ellis, and Versace as high-end, and Jaclyn Smith, Merona, Sonoma, and Worthington
as low-end. Ease and feasibility for more accurate alterations of the original clothing brand
logotypes were major factors in choosing which brands to use for this study. More customized
logotypes that used handwritten or script typefaces were considered too diffcult to effectively
alter within the given timeframe. To help prevent a bias towards brand recognition, these
selected logotypes were altered; however, the typographic forms used in the original clothing
brand logotypes were closely considered during the process of alteration. During the process
of altering the logotypes, careful attention was also given to the overall feeling of the logotype,
letterforms, length, and spacing. The ultimate goal was to remove brand recognition while
still maintaining the logotypes personality. The suggested typefaces were chosen based
on the similar typefaces used in the original clothing brand logotypes.
High-end Altered
Low-end Altered
The logotypes were assigned numbers for the purposes of the documentation
(i.e. Design 1, Design 2, Design 3, etc.).
Design 1
Design 2
Design 3
Design 4
Design 5
Design 6
Design 7
Design 8
Designs Type Attributes
Sans Serif
High
Contrast
Low
Contrast
Tight
Spacing
Loose
Spacing
Bold Regular
Design 1 x x x x
Design 2 x x x x
Design 3 x x x x
Design 4 x x x x
Design 5 x x x x
Design 6 x x x x
Design 7 x x x x
Design 8 x x x x
Eight typography designs were constructed for the study, as seen in Table 1,
with specifc typographic attributes listed.
TABLE 1. TYPOGRAPHIC ATTRIBUTES OF THE EIGHT DESIGNS
3.3 Survey
The survey questionnaire was constructed to gather information on the perceived
brand personality for eight logotype designs. Each participant used the 5-level Likert scale
(1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree) to report their degree of agreement on each
of the 16 brand personalities for the eight logotype designs. Demographic information
on gender, age, and knowledge of graphic design was also collected. Before the survey
was conducted, it was presented to the Institutional Review Board at the Rochester
Institute of Technology for approval. After receiving permission to proceed with the
data collection process, the survey questionnaire and consent form were uploaded
to SurveyGizmo. A total of 251 men and women completed the survey.
3.4 Data Analysis
Age Female Male Total
1822 37 80 117
2330 57 32 89
3150 11 7 18
51+ 16 11 27
All Ages 121 130 251
This study investigated the association between typographic design and clothing brand
personality. The effects of gender, age, and knowledge in typography on brand personality
refected through typographic design were also examined.
Initially, descriptive statistics were used to summarize the demographic information
of respondents. Out of 251 respondents who completed the survey, 121 were females
and 130 were males; 64 respondents had some graphic design knowledge; 117 were
between 18 and 22 years old, 89 were between 23 and 30, 12 were between 31 and 40,
6 were between 41 and 50, 14 were between 51 and 60, and 13 were 61 years old or older.
In an attempt to produce age groups that were similar in sizes, age was re-categorized
into four groups: 18 to 22, 23 to 30, 31 to 50, and 51 or older. Detailed demographics
for the four age groups were collected, as seen in Table 2.
TABLE 2. DEMOGRAPHICS OF THE RESPONDENTS
Chi-square test was used to test research question 1 and 2, paired t-tests were
used for research question 3, and one-way analysis variance tests were performed
for research question 4.
Traits Designs
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Friendly 26% 37% 45% 60% 28% 63% 43% 50%
Young 18% 40% 50% 52% 32% 59% 13% 46%
Contemporary 47% 63% 48% 54% 58% 53% 35% 48%
Cheerful 12% 20% 36% 42% 19% 54% 25% 36%
Reliable 74% 58% 43% 42% 71% 43% 74% 38%
Unique 24% 53% 16% 39% 52% 33% 43% 29%
Exciting 14% 32% 16% 21% 36% 36% 21% 25%
Sexy 23% 34% 17% 21% 47% 25% 12% 16%
Family-oriented 21% 13% 35% 40% 11% 42% 53% 40%
Masculine 16% 47% 25% 10% 62% 9% 53% 27%
Glamorous 49% 41% 20% 22% 43% 32% 21% 16%
Tough 18% 14% 25% 14% 39% 8% 27% 22%
Sophisticated 74% 76% 25% 38% 74% 44% 59% 29%
Casual 26% 29% 62% 58% 24% 51% 33% 53%
Feminine 68% 33% 45% 49% 23% 65% 21% 32%
Confdent 78% 77% 53% 45% 80% 53% 70% 44%
3.5 Results
Among the eight designs in this study, opinions on classifying them as high-end or low-end
varied. Table 3 showed that an overwhelmingly large percentage of respondents, 93.2%,
felt Design 2 was high end, and 86.1% of respondents felt Design 5 was high-end,
while only 37.1% of the respondents felt the same for Design 3. Comparing the typographic
attributes of these designs, Design 2 was sans serif, low contrast, loosely spaced
and regular weight; Design 5 was serif, high contrast, tightly spaced, and regular weight;
and Design 3 was sans serif, low contrast, loosely spaced, and bold. It was not clear that
the typographic attributes affected respondents perception on high-end and low-end design.
TABLE 3. PERCENTAGE OF RESPONDENTS WHO FEEL THE DESIGN IS HIGH-END
Table 4 provided some insight to research question 1. It showed that sophistication
and reliability were the two personality traits that differentiate high-end design from
the low-end design. Table 4 also showed that the low-end designs possessed fewer
personality traits perceived by respondents.
TABLE 4. PERCENTAGE OF RESPONDENTS WHO AGREE OR STRONGLY AGREE THE DESIGN
HAS SPECIFIC PERSONALITY TRAITS
NOTE: PERCENTAGES THAT ARE AT LEAST 50% ARE HIGHLIGHTED
Design 1 Design 2 Design 3 Design 4 Design 5 Design 6 Design 7 Design 8
79.70% 93.20% 37.10% 48.20% 86.10% 51.40% 73.30% 31.50%
Traits Designs
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Friendly
Young x
Contemporary x x
Cheerful x
Reliable
Unique x
Exciting
Sexy
Family-oriented x x x
Masculine
Glamorous
Tough x
Sophisticated
Casual x x
Feminine x x
Confdent
Chi square test was conducted to analyze research question 2: Will a persons knowledge
of typography affect how typeface personality is perceived in brand personality?
It was found that the knowledge of typography did not infuence the brand personality
perception. Several Chi square tests were also conducted to study research question 3:
Will the perception of brand personality refected through a typeface personality differ
between male and female consumers? It was found that males and females differed
in their opinions about the association between some brand personalities and
the typographic attributes. However, males and females had the same view concerning
personality traits for Design 1 and Design 5. For Design 2, females felt it was more
family-oriented, tougher, and more contemporary. For Design 3, females felt it was
more cheerful, more casual, while males felt it was more family-oriented. For Design 4,
females felt it was more family-oriented, and more casual. For Design 6, females felt
it was younger and more feminine looking, while males felt it was more contemporary.
Males felt Design 7 was more unique while females felt Design 8 was more feminine.
The results were summarized and displayed in Table 5.
TABLE 5. ASSOCIATION BETWEEN TYPOGRAPHY AND PERSONALITY TRAITS PERCEIVED
BY MALE AND FEMALE
X INDICATES SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT IN OPINIONS BETWEEN MALE AND FEMALE AT = 0.05.
Traits Designs
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Friendly x x x x x x
Young x x
Contemporary x x x x x
Cheerful x x
Reliable x x x x
Unique x x x x
Exciting x x x
Sexy x
Masculine x x
Glamorous x x
Tough x x
Sophisticated x x
Casual x
Feminine
Confdent x x
To analyze research question 4, several one-way analysis of variance tests were performed
to compare the opinions in perceived brand personality among four age groups. The results
were summarized in Table 6. It was found that the perception of brand personality refected
through a typeface personality differed between four age groups (18 to 22, 23 to 30,
31 to 50, and 51 and older) in many of the designs. However, there was no difference
in perceived brand personality among age groups for the feminine personality trait,
a difference in the sexy trait was found only in Design 3, and a difference in the casual trait
was found only in Design 1.
TABLE 6. AREAS OF DIFFERENCES IN PERCEIVED BRAND PERSONALITIES AMONG FOUR AGE GROUPS
X INDICATES SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT IN OPINIONS BETWEEN MALE AND FEMALE AT = 0.05.
Tailored Type Application 23
4 Application
4.1 Tailored Type Logo
After brainstorming with wordlists to help generate possible name combinations,
the fnal name, Tailored Type, was chosen to refect a term generally used in the clothing
industry and relating it to choosing detailed and fnely attuned, appropriate typefaces.
A serif typeface was combined with a sans serif typeface to complement each other
as well as speak to the different personalities that each typeface carried. Tailored
was set in a serif typeface to give a sense of sophistication, confdence, and reliability,
as most consumers would want if they were to have their clothes tailored. Type was set
in a sans serif typeface to emphasize the focus on the typographic element of the study,
as well as to contrast Tailored by being more contemporary and casual. Considering the
name may still have come across as vague, a clothing brand typography guide
was added as a tagline for clarity.
One of the objectives of this study was to create a practical application. After researching
and summarizing all the survey data, all the information was organized and incorporated
into an interactive website. This digital application focused on helping designers choose
appropriate typefaces through suggestions based on the survey data.
4.2 Interactive Website
The initial plan of the study was to design a print application, but after realizing that
an interactive website would be more engaging and benefcial, a digital application was then
developed. An interactive website was considered to be more easily accessible to users
and be able to demonstrate the guide more clearly. One of the most important components
of an effective website is the navigation; therefore, fxed navigation was designed so that
users had access to navigation regardless of where they scroll to on the page.
About Statistics
Clothing Brand Typography
Guide
Specics
Pricing?
Characteristics
and Traits
Suggestion
Male
2330 1822
Interactive Data?
Female
3150 51+
Age Gender
Resources
Family-oriented
Cheerful
Sincerity
Friendly
Unique
Contemporary
Casual
Excitement
Young
Exciting
Competence
Condent
Reliable
Glamorous
Sophistication
Sophisticated
Feminine
Sexy
Ruggedness
Tough
Masculine
High-end Low-end
The main objective for the website was to provide a guide that would help designers choose
more appropriate typefaces based on their age, gender, and brand personality selections.
There were sixteen personality traits in the survey questionnaire; a selection of 3 traits
by the user would generate 560 combinations. In order to reduce the number of combinations
to a more manageable level, the user was limited to two personality trait selections.
In addition, the traits were grouped according to their characteristics.
In order to show the data in a more organized and visual way, radar charts were created.
Radar charts helped depict the data in a more visually impactful way and made it easier
for users to discern changes and compare different groups of data. Users could hover over
the points on the chart to view a box with the detailed information of each group. In addition,
each category view could be toggled on and off for easier comparisons between groups.
Open Sans
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890
Open Sans Italic
Open Sans Bold
Georgia
Georgia Italic
Georgia Bold
CMYK 68 60 62 50
RGB 61 62 60
HEX 3D3E3C
CMYK 0 76 63 0
RGB 241 100 89
HEX F26359
CMYK 1 1 2 0
RGB 251 249 246
HEX FCFBF7
CMYK 25 20 20 0
RGB 192 191 191
HEX BFBFBF
CMYK 23 0 10 0
RGB 194 230 229
HEX C1E8E7
CMYK 0 33 100 0
RGB 252 179 22
HEX FFCC66
The color palette was chosen to provide a gender-neutral feeling. The background
of the website was off-white to give the website a warm tone rather than a sterile
and scientifc tone. The two primary accent colors, red-orange and light teal, were chosen
as complementary colors to brighten the website but not to be stereotypically gender
related. In addition to the primary colors, secondary colors were selected to be used
in cases such as differentiating age groups in the radar chart legend. Open Sans and
Georgia were used as the typefaces on the website. Open Sans was serviced through
Google Fonts and was a clean sans serif alternative to the standard web font Verdana.
Georgia was a useful and widely available web safe typeface that was designed
for exceptional legibility on-screen.
Typefaces
Primary Colors
Secondary Colors
Tailored Type Usability Testing 27
5 Usability Testing
In order to better understand the opinions and thoughts of users, it was important
to conduct usability testing. Imagine RIT, an annual innovation and creativity festival
held at Rochester Institute of Technology, provided a great opportunity to gather
user feedback. A total of 23 completed surveys were collected. The following questions
were included in the survey:
Please indicate your gender Male Female
Please indicate your age 1822 2330 3150 51+
Are you a graphic designer? Yes No
After browsing through the Tailored Type website, please answer the following:
(Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, or Strongly Agree)
The guide is successful
The tables and charts help your understanding of the guide
The website is confusing and/or diffcult to use
The content is understandable and easy to scan or read
The content is organized logically and coherently
Please list any suggestions for improvements:
Additional Comments:
Based on the collective answers from the user survey, common answers were observed.
The following suggestions and overall feedback were given as responses:
Suggestions for improvements
More typeface suggestions
Be able to go back and reselect traits
Overall Feedback
Great design
Successful
Good statistics and research
Nice way of organizing and showing data
Tables and charts helped users understanding of the guide
Content is understandable and easy to read
User Feedback
Survey Questions
Tailored Type Conclusion 28
6 Conclusion
Understanding how typography infuences consumer perception and brand reception
is important not only in strengthening a brands identity but also in enabling companies
to successfully employ typographic strategies that positively infuence consumers.
The results of this study provided an insight on the association between the choice
of a typeface, brand personality, age, gender, and knowledge of typography.
More specifcally, this study found that perceived typeface personalities were
infuenced by age and gender, but were not affected by the knowledge of typography.
The Tailored Type website was developed based on the survey results. It provided
a unique, clear, and easy to follow guide for designers as well as marketers.
Although the process of altering the logotypes may have been subjected to distortion
from several causes and the selection of personality traits was limited to sixteen items,
the exploration, investigation, and the results from data collected within this thesis
were still important and relevant to the design feld. Results from this study could
be applied and utilized in a wide range of design disciplines including advertising,
graphic design, product design, and interactive web design.
Tailored Type Endnotes 29
7 Endnotes
1 Alina Wheeler, Designing Brand Identity (2nd ed.) (Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2006).
2 Ellen Lupton, Thinking with Type (2nd ed.) (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2004).
3 Erik Spiekermann and E.M. Ginger, Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works (2nd ed.).
(Berkeley: Adobe Press, 2002).
4 Eva R. Brumberger, The Rhetoric of Typography: The Persona of Typeface and Text, Technical
Communication 50, No. 2 (2003): 206223.
5 Pamela Henderson, John Giese, and Joseph Cote, Impression Management Using Typeface
Design, Journal of Marketing 68, No.4 (2004): 6072.
6 Jo Mackiewicz, What Technical Writing Students Should Know About Typeface Personality,
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication 34, No. 1 & 2 (2004): 113131.
7 Jo Mackiewicz, Audience Perceptions of Fonts in Projected PowerPoint Text Slides, Technical
8 Audrey Dawn Shaikh, Barbara S. Chaparro, and Doug Fox, Perception of Fonts: Perceived
Personality Traits and Uses, Usability News, Wichita State University, 8, Issue 1 (2006),
accessed September 15, 2012. www.surl.org/usabilitynews/81/personalityoffonts.asp.
9 Audrey Dawn Shaikh, Psychology of On-screen Type: Investigations Regarding Typeface
Personality, Appropriateness, and Impact on Document Perception (PhD diss.,
Wichita State University, 2007).
10 David Damico, Language as Typography (MFA Thesis, University of Houston, 2008).
11 Beth Elynn Koch, Human Emotion Response to Typographic Design (PhD diss.,
University of Minnesota, 2011).
12 Terry L Childer and Jeffrey Jass, All Dressed Up with Something to Say:
Effects of Typeface Semantic Associations on Brand Perceptions and Consumer Memory,
Journal of Consumer Psychology 12, No. 2 (2002): 93106.
13 C. A., Boudreaux and S. E. Palmer A Charming Little Cabernet: Effects of Wine Label Design
on Purchase Intent and Brand Personality, International Journal of Wine Business Research
19, No. 3 (2007): 170186.
14 B. Grohmann, J. L. Giese, and I. D. Parkman, Using Type Font Characteristics
to Communicate Brand Personality of New Brands, Journal of Brand Management
19 (2012): 115.
15 Angela Stahle, Discovering Logo Design TrendsMethodology and Practice:
an Analysis of the Logos of Top Advertising Spenders in the American Market
(MFA Thesis, Georgetown University, 2002).
16 E. J. Mikaere, How Favourable Attitudes Are Formed When the Semantic Associations
of a Logotype Are Congruent with Brand Personality (MCGD Thesis,
The University of Waikato, 2011).
17 Jessica Lee Ridgway, Brand Personality: Consumers Perceptions of Color Used
in Brand Logos (MS Thesis, University of Missouri, 2011).
18 Ellen Lupton, Mixing Messages: Graphic Design in Contemporary Culture
(New York: Cooper-Hewitt, 1996), 29.
19 Henderson, Giese, and Cote, Impression Management Using Typeface Design, 6072.
20 Jennifer L. Aaker, Dimensions of Brand Personality, Journal of Marketing Research 34 (1997):
347356.
Tailored Type Bibliography 30
8 Bibliography
Aaker, Jennifer L. Dimensions of Brand Personality. Journal of Marketing Research
34 (1997): 347356.
Boudreaux, C. A. and S. E. Palmer. A Charming Little Cabernet: Effects of Wine Label Design
on Purchase Intent and Brand Personality. International Journal of Wine Business
Research 19, No. 3 (2007): 170186.
Brumberger, Eva R. The Rhetoric of Typography: The Persona of Typeface and Text. Technical
Childer, Terry L. and Jeffrey Jass. All Dressed Up with Something to Say: Effects
of Typeface Semantic Associations on Brand Perceptions and Consumer Memory.
Journal of Consumer Psychology 12, No. 2 (2002): 93106.
Damico, David. Language as Typography. MFA Thesis, University of Houston, 2008.
Grohmann, B., J. L. Giese, and I. D. Parkman. Using Type Font Characteristics
to Communicate Brand Personality of New Brands. Journal of Brand Management
19 (2012): 115.
Henderson, Pamela, John Giese, and Joseph Cote. Impression Management Using Typeface
Design. Journal of Marketing 68, No.4 (2004): 6072.
Koch, Beth Elynn. Human Emotion Response to Typographic Design. PhD diss.,
University of Minnesota, 2011.
Lupton, Ellen. Mixing Messages: Graphic Design in Contemporary Culture.
New York: Cooper-Hewitt, 1996.
Lupton, Ellen. Thinking with Type (2nd ed.). New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2004.
Mackiewicz, Jo. Audience Perceptions of Fonts in Projected PowerPoint Text Slides.
Technical Communication 54, No. 3 (2007): 295307.
Mackiewicz, Jo. What Technical Writing Students Should Know About Typeface Personality.
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication 34, No. 1 & 2 (2004): 113131.
Mikaere, E. J. How Favourable Attitudes Are Formed When the Semantic Associations
of a Logotype Are Congruent with Brand Personality. MCGD Thesis,
The University of Waikato, 2011.
Ridgway, Jessica Lee. Brand Personality: Consumers Perceptions of Color Used
in Brand Logos. MS Thesis, University of Missouri, 2011.
Shaikh, Audrey Dawn, Barbara S. Chaparro, and Doug Fox, Perception of Fonts: Perceived
Personality Traits and Uses. Usability News, Wichita State University,
8, Issue 1 (2006), accessed September 15, 2012.
www.surl.org/usabilitynews/81/personalityoffonts.asp.
Shaikh, Audrey Dawn. Psychology of On-screen Type: Investigations Regarding Typeface
Personality, Appropriateness, and Impact on Document Perception.
PhD diss., Wichita State University, 2007.
Spiekermann, Erik and E.M. Ginger. Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works
(2nd ed.). Berkeley: Adobe Press, 2002.
Stahle, Angela. Discovering Logo Design TrendsMethodology and Practice: an Analysis
of the Logos of Top Advertising Spenders in the American Market. MFA Thesis,
Georgetown University, 2002.
Wheeler, Alina. Designing Brand Identity (2nd ed.). Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2006.
Tailored Type Appendices 31
Appendices
A4 Survey Data
A5 Logo Development
A7 Final Application
A8 User Feedback
A9 Acknowledgements
Rita Yu
Thesis Proposal for the Master of Fine Arts Degree
College of Imaging Arts and Sciences
School of Design
Graphic Design
November 7, 2012
The Psychology
of Typography
Studying the Effects of Typography in Clothing Brand Personalities
1 The Psychology of Typography
Thesis Committee Approval
Chief Advisor
Nancy Ciolek, Associate Professor
Chief Advisor Date
Associate Advisor
Lorrie Frear, Associate Professor
Associate Advisor
Carol Fillip, Assistant Professor
Situation Analysis
Typography is the art of arranging letters to communicate ideas.
The letters used can take on different forms according to the variations in
letterforms. A number of research results have pointed out that every typeface
has a unique personality and has the ability to invoke different feelings and
moods. Thus, the choice of a typeface is critical in delivering the intended
message, whether it is for print, digital, or concerning corporate branding.
Since a brand name is one of the most valuable assets owned by a corporation,
companies spend a considerable amount of effort to nd the best typeface
in order to communicate with their consumers and to generate a unique
brand identity. There are studies that suggest that the typeface personality
will be extended to the brand personality. Researchers have also suggested
several dimensions that measure human personality traits as tools to measure
typeface personality. While most of these measurements are relevant to brand
personality, they do not capture the entire scope; consumers perceptions on
brand personality are usually affected by their age, gender, and social-economic
status, in addition to their perceived typeface personality. This creates a big
obstacle in constructing the association between typeface personality and
brand personality in a general term.
Due to the advancement in technology, there are vast quantities of typefaces
available to professionals as well as the general public. Studies of association
between typefaces and brand perceptions have increasingly gained attention
among researchers and corporations. However, the impact of typeface
selections on the consumer perceptions of a brand has not been totally
understood. Furthermore, there is a void in the research concerning the
congruence between the typefaces used and the brand personality that the
company intends to portray, the role of age, gender, and the knowledge of
typography, all play on the perceptions of typeface and brand personality.
Problem Statement
Will this study of the psychology of typography and its inuences on clothing
brand personality and consumer perception help designers have a better
understanding of typeface personalities and how to incorporate them into
effective design solutions?
Typography has an ability to imply meaning through text, perception, and
application. Expressing the intended meaning successfully is important to
a brands reception and identifying how typography inuences consumer
perception can strengthen a brands identity and better enable companies to
employ typographic strategies that positively inuence consumers. Due to
typographys ability to adapt to situations and alter perceptions, it can help
brands develop stronger identities through a typefaces characteristics and
personality that best represent a brands personality. Having an understanding
of typographic principles and the psychology behind typefaces can add value
to a brands identity, and create a positive and strong brand identity, and allows
companies to form better relationships with its consumers.
For my thesis, I propose a case study that explores the effects of typography on
brand personality perceived by consumers. To further narrow down the scope
of my research to a more manageable level, I chose the clothing industry for my
case study. Specically, my research aims to answer the following questions:
1 Are there specic typeface personality traits that are more suitable for low- or
high-end clothing brands perceived by consumers?
2 Will a persons knowledge of typography affect how typeface personality is
perceived in brand personality?
3 Will the perception of brand personality reected through a typeface personality
differ between male and female consumers?
4 Will the perception of brand personality reected through a typeface personality
differ between two age groups (18 to 45 and older than 45)?
The results of this study will provide an insight on the association between the
choice of a typeface, brand personality, age, and gender.
Survey of Literature
1 Using type font characteristics to communicate brand personality
of new brands
By B. Grohmann, J.L. Giese, and I. D. Parkman
Journal of Brand Management. Vol.19, 2012.

The study nds that type font characteristics (naturalness, elaborate, harmony,
ourish, and weight) inuence brand personality perceptions (excitement,
sincerity, sophistication, competence, and ruggedness). Also, the effect of
naturalness in type font designs is a key to elicit brand personality dimensions. In
addition, the study nds that the inuence of type font color on brand personality
perceptions is independent of the impact of the type font itself.

2 Fortune Favors the Bold (and the Italicized): Effects of Disuency
on Educational Outcomes
By Connor Diemand-Yauman, Daniel M. Oppenheimer, Erikka B. Vaughan
Cognition, 2010
web.princeton.edu/sites/opplab/papers/Diemand-Yauman_Oppenheimer_2010.pdf

The authors in this study found that student retention of material in a wide range
of subjects and difculty levels can be signicantly improved by presenting the
reading material slightly harder to read. But, the authors also indicate that the
variation of fonts should be within the normal bounds. They further suggest that
the cognitive interventions are cost effective and the potential for improving
educational practices is enormous. This article relates the typography psychology
to the education outcome, which is different than most studies focused on
corporations and will help balance my thesis.

3 A charming little cabernet: Effects of wine label design on purchase
intent and brand personality
By C. A.Boudreaux and S. E. Palmer.
International Journal of Wine Business Research, Vol.19, No 3, 2007.

The authors conducted a research to examine the impact of brand personality on
purchase intent and the inuence of three design elements (color, illustration, and
design layout) of wine labels on brand personality. It was found that the illustration
used on the label had the greatest impact on both purchase intent and perceptions
of brand personality.
Journal Articles
4 Audience Perceptions of Fonts in Projected PowerPoint Text Slides
By Jo Mackiewicz
Technical Communication, Vol. 54. No.3, August 2007.

The author examines perceptions of 10 common fonts displayed in projected
PowerPoint text slides. These fonts are grouped into sans serif and serif
categories. Comparisons between these two groups of fonts are made based
on the ratings of four font personalities: comfortable-to-read, professional,
interesting, and attractive. The same four variables are also used to compare
the ratings of the 10 individual fonts. The author has several interesting ndings
from the study. For example, she concludes that the fonts with characteristics that
contribute to perceptions of readability are likely to contribute to perceptions of
professionalism. This article would be helpful for anyone who uses PowerPoint for
presentations.

5 How to Use Five Letterforms to Gauge A Typefaces Personality:
A Research-Driven Method
By Jo Mackiewicz
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, Vol. 35, No. 3. 2005.

The author suggests a research-driven method that can be used to analyze a
typefaces personality, which matches the intended tone of a document. More
specically, the study describes how to analyze a typefaces uppercase J and its
lowercase a, g, e, and n letterforms to gauge a typefaces personality. But, only
two personality attributes (friendliness and professionalism) are studied in this
article. Further research needs be done to examine other personality attributes.
This article is intended for technical communicators, both professionals and
students. This is an interesting article and may be a good source of reference for
my thesis topic because it studies the anatomical features that generate different
kinds of personality perceptions.

6 Impression Management Using Typeface Design
By Pamela W. Henderson, Joan L. Giese, and Joseph A. Cote
Journal of Marketing, Oct. 2004, Vol. 68, No. 4 pp.60-72

This article gives guidelines to help managers select typefaces that affect
impressions. Particularly, the article addresses four questions: 1) What are
the strategically relevant impressions created by typeface design? 2) What
characteristics are most useful for describing typeface design? 3) What is
the impact of design on each kind of impression? 4) What guidelines should
corporations follow to achieve their communication goals through the use of
typeface design? The ndings suggest that a typeface is a medium with its own
message. Thus, it is important for corporations to choose a typefaces message
and impression carefully and to be consistent across all communications in
which a corporation engages. This article shows that there is a link between the
typefaces used and the responses or impressions (e.g. pleasing, reassuring,
prominent) it generates in the business eld.

7 What Technical Writing Students Should Know
About Typeface Personality
By Jo Mackiewicz
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, Vol.34, No. 1 & 2, 2004.

This article intends to help technical writing students understand that every
typeface has a different personality. It describes the relationship between
typeface personality and its contribution to a documents effect. It also explains
the difference between types functional and semantic properties, the difference
between type family and type personality, and the contribution of a typefaces
anatomy to its personality. By understanding and considering these important
issues, technical writing students can make informed decisions about the typeface
they select for their documents and convey their intended rhetoric effectively. This
article points out that understanding the typeface personality is important when
communicating a message in text and will help me understand another facet of
how typefaces affect communication.

8 Do brand personality scales really measure brand personality?
By Audrey Azoulay and Jean-Neil Kapferer.
Brand Management, Vol. 11. No.2. 2003.

The authors argue that the current scales of brand personality that have been
widely used in academic circles do not in fact measure brand personality. Instead,
they are the dimensions measuring brand identity personality being only one
of them. The authors challenge Aakers denition of brand personality, which is
dened as a set of human characteristics associated with a brand. By adopting
Aakers denition, it may mean that brand personality includes any non-physical
attribute associated with a brand such as, gender, social class, or intellectual
abilities, and yet psychologists have worked over the years to exclude these
factors from personality denitions. Thus, some of the adjectives used in Aakers
personality dimensions and facets are irrelevant in describing brand personality.
The authors suggest dening brand personality as the unique set of human
personality traits both applicable and relevant to brands.

9 The Rhetoric of Typography: The Persona of Typeface and Text
By Eva R. Brumberger
Technical Communication, Vol. 50. No. 2, May 2003.

The author tries to address the psychological aspects of typeface design and
usage in her article. More specically, this study investigates whether particular
typefaces and text passages are consistently perceived to have particular
personas. She rst established persona proles for a series of typefaces, and then
she set up persona proles for text passages. She argues that if personas can be
identied for both text passages and typefaces, then subsequent studies can pair
texts and typefaces according to their persona proles. The investigation of the
ways in which persona matches or mismatches affect readers interactions with a
document can also be conducted. This article will be helpful to me in determining
a strategic way to match typefaces with text.

10 All Dressed Up With Something to Say: Effects of Typeface
Semantic Associations on Brand Perceptions and Consumer Memory
By Terry L. Childers and Jeffrey Jass
Journal of Consumer Psychology, Vol. 12 No. 2, 2002.

The authors develop a conceptual framework that deals with the effects of typeface
semantic within a marketing context. The objectives of the study are to 1) examine
the semantic nature of typography, 2) investigate the situations under which
typeface cues in advertising serve as inuential cues for consumer in forming
perceptions of brands, and 3) relate the effect of typeface semantic associations
to consumer memory for advertised brand claims. The authors conclude that
typefaces convey meanings that have the potential to signicantly inuence
important marketing outcomes. In addition, typeface semantic associations also
affect how consumers perceive brands, as well as what they remember about
brands. The article is a good reference for anyone who works for any marketing
communication team, including graphic designers. This study demonstrates the link
between typography and consumer psychology is helpful for me as I start working
on my thesis because typeface choices are also important in brand identity.

11 Dimensions of Brand Personality
By J. L. Aaker
Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 34. August, 1997.

The author develops a framework to describe and measure the personality of a
brand in ve core dimensions; each has a set of facets. Sincerity (down-to-earth,
honest, wholesome, cheerful), excitement (daring, spirited, imaginative, up-to-
date), competence (reliable, intelligent, successful), sophistication (upper class,
charming), ruggedness (outdoorsy, tough) are the ve core dimensions. Each
facet is then measured by a set of traits; each trait is measured by a ve-point
scale (1=not descriptive at all, 5= extremely descriptive). The facets and the traits
are: down-to-earth (down-to-earth, family-oriented, small-town), honest (honest,
sincere, real), wholesome (wholesome, original), cheerful (cheerful, sentimental,
friendly), daring (daring, trendy, exciting), spirited (spirited, cool, young),
imaginative (imaginative, unique).
12 Language as Typography
By David Damico
MFA Thesis, University of Houston
May 2008
www.ddamico.net/Graduate/Graduate/Home_les/Thesis%20Final-Damico.pdf

The author addresses typography as it is related to language and human
personality attributes. He believes that typography is a language of its own.
The essential point of the thesis is that there is a relationship between the original
intent of a particular letterform as dened by the designer, and the subjective
interpretations assigned to it by users. The author states that an idea passes
from the mind to the lips, continuing its journey through written language as
typography. There are several points included in this thesis that will be helpful
to me in a relatively broader study of typography personality.

13 Psychology of Onscreen Type: Investigations Regarding Typeface
Personality, Appropriateness, and Impact on Document Perception
By Audrey Dawn Shaikh
PhD dissertation, Wichita State University
May 2007
soar.wichita.edu/dspace/handle/10057/1109

The purpose of the research is to study the perception of onscreen typefaces.
This research project consists of three studies, and data collected online from
379 people were included in this project. Study 1 is to determine if participants
consistently attribute personality traits to typefaces viewed onscreen. Study 2
is to determine if participants view typefaces as appropriate for certain onscreen
documents. Study 3 is to determine the effect of perceived appropriateness of
typeface on perception of the designers ethos. The conclusions are based on
statistical data analysis of the responses from the participants. This paper provides
a good source of reference on the background and approach in doing further
research on typography personality. But, I will need some help on the statistical
analysis part of this paper. This paper will also help my thesis in the area of
onscreen type in relation to my interactive application idea.

Theses
14 How favourable attitudes are formed when the semantic associations of
a logotype are congruent with brand personality
By E. J. Mikaere
Thesis for Master of Computer Graphic Design, The University of Waikato
February 2011
researchcommon.waikato.ac.nz/

The author rst creates two ctitious tea brand names using two typefaces,
pleasing and engaging and reassuring based on the framework designed by
Henderson et.al. (2004). Then two brand slogans are created by the author that are
meant to be congruent with semantic associations of their logotypes. Thus, there
are four combinations of logotypes and brand slogans, two are congruent pairs and
two are incongruent pairs. Surveys using the Likert scale are conducted to collect
data on the participants brand attitudes. Based on the survey results, the conclusion
is mixed. That is, the consumers do not always have more positive attitudes towards
a brand when the semantic associations of the branding slogan and a logotype
are congruent with each other. In addition, the survey results are complied in
percentages, there is no statistical analysis conducted for this research study.

15 Discovering logo design trendsmethodology and practice: an analysis
of the logos of top advertising spenders in the American market
By Angela Stahle
Thesis for Master of Arts in communication, culture and technology,
Georgetown University.
April 2002

The thesis is to test the hypothesis that the logo designs of Americas most
marketed brands will show evidence of design trends in terms of at least one
design characteristic. The author hopes that the results can be used as the basis
for logo design recommendations for creating logos that are keeping with the
trends. She obtained the top two hundred megabrands in terms of recorded
media spending in the US market from AdAge.com and categorized their logos
in terms of the 12 design characteristics. These 12 design characteristics are the
types of logo used, whether the logo is bounded (within a shape), whether the
logo uses serif or sans serif fonts, how the logo uses capitalization, what style of
font appears in the logo, how many colors are used in the design, which primary
and secondary colors are used in the design, which color palette was chosen for
the design, how many elements are present in the logo, whether a character of
a mascot comprises part of the logo, whether a referential symbol comprises
part of the logo, whether a shape that is not part of a referential symbol or letter
comprises part of the logo, and which shapes were used in the design.

The results are organized in a table showing the percentage of logos exhibiting
each of the characteristics. The study nds evidence of design trends. For
example, 70% of the logos have both text and graphic elements, were unbounded
and used a sans-serif typeface. More than 83% of the logos used print-style (not
handwritten or script) fonts, and most of them used either all capital letters or
mixed case capitalization.

16 The Psychology of Fonts
By Emily Matthews
December 2011
www.onextrapixel.com/2011/12/13/the-psychology-of-fonts/

The author argues that font psychology plays an important role in the reaction of
readers, whether in emails, resumes, menus, documents, or websites. She uses
several examples to illustrate that readers react psychologically to the appearance
of a text. Thus, it is important for the designers to consider the emotions that
words can evoke in readers. The examples given in this article are interesting and
could be useful if supporting documents are included.

17 The Effect of Typeface on the Perception of Email
By A. Dawn Shaikh, Doug Fox, and Barbara S. Chaparro
Usability News, Vol. 9 Issue 1, January, 2007.
www.surl.org/usabilitynews/91/pof2.asp

This study examines the impact that a font has on the readers perception of an
email. A survey of 120 people was conducted. These participants were shown
the same email in one of three fonts (Calibri, Comic Sans, and Gigi) and then
lled out a survey when they were nished reading. There were two sections of
the survey: the rst section was asking the participants to describe the persona
of the email using a list of 15 adjectives; the second section was asking the
participants to evaluate the perception of the authors ethos and the perception
of the intended audience. The nal conclusion was based on the summary of
the data collected. The approach and methodology used for this article is very
similar to the article entitled, Perception of Fonts: Perceived Personality Traits
and Uses in 2006 by the same author. This is another study that supports the
idea that typefaces have an effect on communication. Although this study
focuses on email, which is not the main interest of my thesis, it is still relevant
and helpful in regards to typeface perception.

Online Resources
18 Perception of Fonts: Perceived Personality Traits and Uses
By A. Dawn Shaikh, Barbara S. Chaparro, and Doug Fox
Usability News, Vol. 8 Issue 1, February, 2006.
www.surl.org/usabilitynews/81/personalityoffonts.asp

The objective of this study is to determine if certain personalities and uses are related
to various fonts. The ndings are based on a survey result of 561 participants. The
participants were asked to rate the personality of 20 fonts using 15 adjectives. They
also rated the appropriateness of usage (e.g. Website, business documents childrens
book, E-greeting) for these 20 fonts. The article provides some guidance on choosing
the font that is best suited to different personality expressions. This study is useful
for anyone who is interested in selecting the most effective font to use. The survey
designed for this study can be used as a reference for my thesis.

19 Graphic Design Referenced
By Bryony Gomez-Palacio and Armin Vit
Rockport Publishers, Beverly, Massachusetts. 2012.

The book provides an overview of the various elements that make up the graphic
design profession. It documents the historical moments, landmark projects, and
prominent practitioners in the eld of graphic design. The rst chapter lays out the
foundations of graphic design. The second chapter explores the knowledge using
sources such as educational institute, magazines, and books. The third chapter
gathers the representative works of inuential practitioners over the years. The last
chapter highlights some iconic works that reveal the evolution of graphic design.

20 Designing Brand Identity, 2nd ed.
By Alina Wheeler
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. 2006.

The book is a complete guide to creating, building, and maintaining strong
brands. It is divided into three parts: perception, process, and practice. Part
one explains the difference between brand and brand identity, and lays out the
ideals and fundamentals of brand identity. Part two presents ve distinct brand
identity design processes: conducting research, clarifying strategy, designing
identity, creating touch points, and managing assets. Part three showcases highly
successful projects; for each of these cases, the book outlines the project goal, the
process and strategy, creative solution, and the results. Wheeler effectively uses
these cases as examples to demonstrate what it takes to create, design, and build
a successful brand identity. This book provides readers a step by step, helpful and
practical structure for branding process.
Books
21 The Brand Gap, revised ed.
By Marty Neumeier
New Riders Publisher, Berkeley CA. 2006.

Neumeier argues that a brand is not a logo; it is not a corporate identity
system. Rather, a brand is a persons gut feeling about a product, service, or
company. It is not what you say it is. It is what they say it is. Neumeier suggests
ve disciplines of branding: differentiate, collaborate, innovate, validate, and
cultivate. In addition, Neumeier believes branding is a process that can be
studies, analyzed, learned, taught, replicated, and managed.

22 Thinking with Type
By Ellen Lupton
Princeton Architectural Press, New York. 2004.

Lupton provides clear and understandable explanations of working with type.
The small details and information that designers should know when choosing
a typeface for a design solution. The book is educational and gives many visual
examples to help further explain and support the information.

23 Type and Image
By Philip B. Meggs
Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York. 1989.

Meggs believes that graphic design has unique purposes and visual properties.
It uses signs, symbols, words, and pictures to deliver a message. The book
explains the elements of graphic design, the fusion of type and image, the use
of graphic space, the nature and the importance of resonance in graphic design,
and the design process. The book is both educational and inspirational.
Design Ideation
High-end
Design Ideation
Design Ideation
Low-end
Design Ideation
Methodological Design
Approach
Target Audience
Software
The specic target audience for my research and ndings will be designers in
the academic and professional world who are knowledgeable within the eld of
graphic design, especially typography and brand identity.
The specic target audience for the questionnaires and surveys will be both
designers and non-designers who are interested in clothing brands. The users
surveyed will be 1870 years of age.
1 Study and analyze the logotypes of both high-end and low-end clothing brands in
the perspective of typography
2 Research the psychology of typography and how it affects consumers perception
of brand personality. Look at case studies of logotypes in the clothing industry
and assess their impact on the personality of the brand.
3 Create a set of personality characteristics that are seen in typefaces
and a scale by which to judge them.
4 Collect feedback and data from surveys and questionnaires from people
who have typographic knowledge and those who do not.
5 Summarize the data and conduct statistical analyses.
6 Provide recommendations, based on my research ndings, for choosing
typefaces that reect an intended brand personality.
Adobe Creative Suite
InDesign
Illustrator
Photoshop
Statistical Analysis Programs
Excel
SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences)
Implementation Strategies
I plan to implement my research and ndings into an information graphic for
my thesis project. This thesis requires user data gathered with questionnaires
and surveys to answer questions as well as support my research as to how
typography affects brand personalities. In addition to a print application, if time
permits, a digital application will also be developed to showcase my research and
ndings. I will use Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, and an Apple iMac to
build my thesis.
Dissemination
I plan to distribute my research and ndings by posting it on my blog,
ritayuthesis.blogspot.com. I will also leave printed copies with RIT Archives and
the Graduate Graphic Design program as well as submit electronic copies to the
RIT Archives, Digital Media Library, and ProQuest/UMI. Lastly, I will submit my
nal thesis and research ndings to publications, conferences, and competitions
that are related to typography and brand identity.
The following are publications, conferences, and competitions that I may
potentially contact or inform of my thesis research and project.
Magazines
Communication Arts
HOW
Print
Conferences
TypeCon
Fuse
Competitions
Communication Arts Typography Competition
Type Directors Club
Print Magazine Regional Design Annual
HOW Magazine Your Best Work Design Awards
Evaluation Plan
I will conduct questionnaires and surveys to compare and contrast various low
and high-end clothing brands to determine how typography affects the brand
personality. My analysis of the feedback will be both qualitative and quantitative.
After analyzing the feedback, I will be able to incorporate the data into my
research and design an application that displays my ndings as well as suggests
to future designers of clothing brands what is most effective.
Pragmatic Considerations
Budget Print Materials $300
Thesis Show $200
Promotional Posters, Business Cards
Dissemination $250
Submitting nal thesis research
to magazines and competitions
Publishing $100
Proposal (2)
Final Bound Copies (3)
Total $850
Numbers are an estimation of what I can expect
to spend throughout my project. All expenses
are subject to change.
Timeline
Sept 0308
0915
1622
2330
Oct 0106
0713
1420
2127
2831
Nov 0103
0410
1117
1824
2530

Dec 0108
0915
1622
2329
3031

Jan 0105
0612
1319
2026
2731
Feb 0102
0309
1016
1723
2428
Mar 0102
0309
1016
1723
2431
Apr 0106
0713
1420
2127
2830
May 0104
0511
1218

2012
2013
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Timeline
Milestones Finalize Committee
Committee Meeting 1
Proposal Defense
Proposal Accepted
Committee Meeting 2
Committee Meeting 3
Final Defense
Thesis Show
Graduation
Bibliography
Aaker, J. L. (1997). Dimensions of brand personality. Journal of Marketing Research,
34(August), 347-356.
Anderson, N. H. (1968). Likableness ratings of 555 personality-trait words. Journal
of Personality and social psychology, 9(3), 272-279.
Boser, U. (2003). A man of letters. U.S.News & World Report, 135(6) 44-45.
Boudreaux C. A., & Palmer, S. E.(2007). A charming little cabernet: Effects of wine label
design on purchase intent and brand personality. International Journal of Wine
Business Research, 19(3), 170-186.
Childer, Terry L. & Jass ,Jeffrey. (2002). All dressed up with something to say: effects of
typeface semantic associations on brand perceptions and consumer memory.
Journal of Consumer Psychology, 12(2), 93-106.
Foster, J. J., & Bruce, M. (1982). Reading uppercase and lowercase on Viewdata. Applied
Ergonomics, 13(2), 145-149.
Grohmann, B., Giese, J.L. & Parkman, I. D. (2012). Using type font characteristics to
communicate brand personality of new brands. Journal of Brand Management,
19, 1-15.
Henderson, Pamela, Giese, John, & Cote, Joseph. (2004). Impression management using
typeface design. Journal of Marketing, 68(4), 60-72.
Lupton, E. (2004). Thinking with type (1st ed.). NY, NY: Princeton Architectural Press.
Manuelli, S. (2003). Distinguishing character: At last a new font for people with dyslexia
is being created by designer Natasha French. Design Week, 18(34), 17.
Schmitt, B. H., & Simonson, A. (1997). Marketing Aesthetics: The strategic management
of brands, identity, and image. Free Press, NY.
Smith J. M., & McCombs, E. (1971, Autumn) The graphics of prose. Visible Language,
365-369).
Speikermann, E, & Ginger, E. (2003). Stop stealing sheep & nd out how type works
(2nd ed.). Berkeley CA: Adobe Press.
Tannenbaum, Percy H, Jacobson, Harvey K, & Norris, Eleanor L. (1964),
An experimental investigation of typeface connotation. Journalism Quarterly,
41(Winter), 65-73.
Walker, P. Smith, S., & Livingston, A. (1986). Predicting the appropriateness
of typeface on the basis of its multi-modal features. Information Design Journal,
5, 14.
Rev. 09-06-2012 Page 1 of 7 IRB Form A
INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD
585-475-2167 ~ www.research.rit.edu/hsro ~ hsro@rit.edu
FORM A: Request for IRB Review of Research Involving Human Subjects
To be completed by the investigator after reading the RIT Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects in
Research, found in the Institute Policies and Procedures Manual, Section C5.0, and on the Office of Human
Subjects Research website, http://www.rit.edu/research/hsro/process_geninfo.php.
Submit an electronic version of the completed form and ALL attachments (consents, instruments, tasks,
etc.) along with a signed hard copy to Dawn Severson, Engineering Hall, Room #2115 hsro@rit.edu
Project Title:
Investigating the relationship between typography and clothing brand personality
Investigators Name:
Rita Yu
Investigators Phone:
717-658-5808
Investigators Email:
rxy2053@rit.edu
Investigators College and Department:
College of Imaging Arts and Sciences Graduate Graphic Design
Project Start Date:
January 7, 2013
Date of IRB Request:
December 17, 2012
If Student, Name of Faculty Supervisor:
Nancy Ciolek
Facultys Phone:
585-475-7472
Facultys Email:
nacfad@rit.edu
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College & Dept. of RIT Collaborator:
N/A
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Will this project be funded externally? No Is the Investigator a student? Yes
If yes, name of funding agency: N/A
Status of project: An MFA thesis in progress Funding pending Funding confirmed
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If yes, please read RIT policy C4.0 Conflict of Interest Policy Pertaining to Externally Funded Projects. Complete the Investigators
Financial Disclosure Form and attach it to this Form A. All information will be kept confidential.
BY MY SIGNATURE BELOW, I ATTEST TO AN UNDERSTANDING OF AND AGREE TO FOLLOW ALL
APPLICABLE RIT, SPONSOR, NEW YORK STATE, AND FEDERAL POLICIES AND LAWS RELATED TO
CONDUCTING RESEARCH WITH HUMAN SUBJECTS. If significant changes in investigative procedures are
needed during the course of this project, I agree to seek approval from the IRB prior to their implementation. I further
agree to immediately report to the IRB any adverse incidents with respect to human subjects that occur in connection
with this project.

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Date
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Complete the attached Research Protocol Outline and attach to this cover form with other required attachments.
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Attachments required where applicable:
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Questionnaire or survey External site IRB approval
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Form A (continued): Research Protocol Outline

The RIT Institutional Review Board (IRB) categorizes Human Subjects Research into three Risk Types
(Exempt, No Greater than Minimal Risk, and Greater than Minimal Risk, defined at the end of this form).
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Please complete this entire form (1 through 10 below). ENTER A RESPONSE FOR EVERY QUESTION. If a
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FOR ALL PROJECTS, please complete 1-10 below.
1) If you believe your project qualifies for Exemption, which exemption number(s) apply?
(Note: The IRB makes the final determination of Exemption)
Exemption number 2.
2) Describe the research problem(s) your project addresses.
Typography has an ability to imply meaning through text, perception, and application. Expressing the
intended meaning successfully is important to a brands reception and identifying how typography influences
consumer perception can strengthen a brands identity and better enable companies to employ typographic
strategies that positively influence consumers. Due to typographys ability to adapt to situations and alter
perceptions, it can help brands develop stronger identities through a typefaces characteristics and
personality that best represent a brands personality. Having an understanding of typographic principles and
the psychology behind typefaces can add value to a brands identity, and create a positive and strong brand
identity, and allows companies to form better relationships with its consumers.

For my thesis, I propose a case study that explores the effects of typography on brand personality perceived
by consumers. To further narrow down the scope of my research to a more manageable level, I chose the
clothing industry for my case study. Specifically, my research aims to answer the following questions:

1) Are there specific typeface personality traits that are more suitable for low- or high-end clothing brands
perceived by consumers?

2) Will a persons knowledge of typography affect how typeface personality is perceived in brand personality?

3) Will the perception of brand personality reflected through a typeface personality differ between male and
female consumers?

4) Will the perception of brand personality reflected through a typeface personality differ between two age
groups (18 to 45 and older than 45)?

The results of this study will provide an insight on the association between the choice of a typeface, brand
personality, age, and gender.
3) Describe expected benefits to subjects and/or knowledge to be gained from your project.
The knowledge gained from the project will highlight the relationship between typography and brand
personality. It helps students in the design field as well as practitioners understand the impact of typography
on perceived brand personality.
4) Describe the population sample for your project.
a) How many subjects will participate in this project?
At least 100
b) How will these subjects be identified and selected for participation?
The questionnaire will be made available online and spread through social media. Participants will be
18+ years of age and will fill the questionnaire voluntarily.
c) Describe the rationale for inclusion or exclusion of any subpopulation.
The projects target audience for the questionnaire is anyone 18+ years of age, anyone younger than 18
and those without Internet access will be excluded.
d) How will you recruit subjects?
Through social media
e) Describe any incentives for participation you plan to use.
None
5) Will you include any of the following vulnerable populations in your research? (Check any that apply)
Children Mentally Ill
Prisoners Mentally Handicapped/Retarded
Pregnant Women Fetuses
If any of these populations are to be included, please addresses the following:
a) Rationale for selecting or excluding a specific population:
N/A
b) Description of the expertise of project personnel for dealing with vulnerable populations:
N/A
c) Description of the suitability of the facilities for the special needs of subjects:
N/A
d) Inclusion of sufficient numbers of subjects to generate meaningful data:
N/A
6) Describe the data collection process.
a) Will the data collected from human subjects be anonymous?
Yes

b) Will the data collected from human subjects be kept confidential?
Yes

c) Describe your procedures for ensuring anonymity and/or confidentiality:
Data collection and analysis do not include any identifiers.
d) How much time is required of each subject?
15 to 20 minutes

e) If subjects are students, will their participation involve class time?
No

f) What methods, instruments, techniques, and/or other sources of material will you use to gather
data from human subjects?
Survey using a questionnaire
7) Will this research be conducted at another university or site other than RIT? No (The survey will be
conducted online using SurveyGizmo.)

If yes, describe location:

Note: If you will be conducting human subjects research at another university or college, you will also need
to obtain IRB approval from that institution. Attach a copy of that approval to this application.
8) Describe potential risks (beyond minimal risk) to subjects:
a) Are the risks physical, psychological, social, legal or other?
No risk
b) Assess their likelihood and seriousness to subjects:
Unlikely and not serious
c) Discuss the potential benefits of the research to the population from which your subjects are
drawn:
This project may stimulate curiosity and interests in typography and branding.
d) Discuss why the risks to subjects are reasonable in relation to the anticipated benefits to subjects
and others, or in relation to the importance of the knowledge to be gained as a result of the
proposed research:
No risk
e) Describe the planned procedures for protecting against or minimizing potential risks, including
risks to confidentiality, and assess their likely effectiveness:
No personal data will be collected or recorded everything will remain anonymous
f) Where appropriate, describe plans for ensuring necessary medical or professional intervention in
the event of adverse effects to the subjects:
N/A
9) Will you be seeking informed consent? Yes
If yes, describe:
a) What information will be provided to prospective subjects?
The purpose of the project will be provided.
b) What (if any) information will be concealed prior to participation, and why?
None
c) How will you ensure consent is obtained without real or implied coercion?
The main objective of the project will be provided online before the questionnaire. The participation is on
a completely voluntary basis. The subjects may close the browser window if they do not wish to
participate. There will be no coercion of any kind.
d) How will you obtain and document consent?
After reading the consent information, the subject can choose to give consent and continue for further
direction, or he/she can choose not to give consent and stop by closing out of the browser window.
e) Who will be obtaining consent? Provide names of specific individuals, where available, and detail
the nature of their preparation and instructions for obtaining consent.
N/A

10) Attach a copy of all additional materials (Consents, protocol, scripts,
instruments, tasks, etc.- everything a subject does or sees) to this
application.
Project Abstract
Will this study of the psychology of typography and its infuences
on clothing brand personality and consumer perception help designers
have a better understanding of typeface personalities and how
to incorporate them into effective design solutions?
Typography has an ability to imply meaning through text, perception,
and application. Expressing the intended meaning successfully is important
to a brands reception and identifying how typography infuences consumer
perception can strengthen a brands identity and better enable companies
to employ typographic strategies that positively infuence consumers.
Due to typographys ability to adapt to situations and alter perceptions,
it can help brands develop stronger identities through a typefaces
characteristics and personality that best represent a brands personality.
Having an understanding of typographic principles and the psychology
behind typefaces can add value to a brands identity, and create
a positive and strong brand identity, and allows companies to form
better relationships with its consumers.
For my thesis, I propose a case study that explores the effects
of typography on brand personality perceived by consumers. To further
narrow down the scope of my research to a more manageable level,
I chose the clothing industry for my case study. Specifcally, my research
aims to answer the following questions:
1 Are there specifc typeface personality traits that are more suitable
for low- or high-end clothing brands perceived by consumers?
2 Will a persons knowledge of typography affect how typeface personality
is perceived in brand personality?
3 Will the perception of brand personality refected through a typeface
personality differ between male and female consumers?
4 Will the perception of brand personality refected through a typeface
personality differ between two age groups (18 to 45 and older than 45)?
The results of this study will provide an insight on the association between
the choice of a typeface, brand personality, age, and gender.
This is an MFA thesis in progress, therefore an abstract has not been
developed. The thesis statement has been included instead.
Investigator Responsibilities
The investigator, Rita Yu, is a graduate student of graphic design.
She is in the progress of conducting a research on how typography
is related to brand personality for her thesis in order to fulfll one of the
requirements for an MFA degree. The research project involves collecting
opinions of volunteers on brand personality of eight different brands
of clothing industry. Her responsibilities are:
1 Create eight fctitious clothing brands
2 Make up questionnaire
3 Upload the questionnaire online using SurveyGizmo
4 Use social media to recruit participants
5 Use statistical software to analyze the data
6 Report the result
7 Include the results in the thesis
Informed Consent
The primary goal of this research project is to explore perceptions
of brand personality in the clothing industry when different typefaces
are used. If you agree to participate in this study, you will be asked
to fll out a survey concerning your perception of brand personality
in eight logotypes. The survey will take approximately 15 to 20 minutes.
Data will be kept anonymous and will be collected by SurveyGizmo.
There are no expected risks for participants taking part in this project.
This study will help graphic designers choose appropriate typefaces
for clothing brands that deliver the intended message.
The following survey will provide a Rochester Institute of Technology
graduate student with important information for thesis research.
Your participation is entirely voluntary and all answers will remain
confdential. Refusing to participate involves no penalty and you may stop
participating at any time without penalty. If you agree to participate in this
study and acknowlege your informed consent, please continue for further
directions. Otherwise, if you do not consent, please close the browser
window. Questions or concerns can be sent to rxy2053@rit.edu.
Thank you
Recruiting Prospective Subjects
The questionnaire will be placed online using SurveyGizmo and spread through
Facebook. The text below will be used to recruit prospective subjects:
Hi (name of subject),
Im currently working on my thesis and I need to conduct a survey to collect
research information on typography and clothing brand personality. Itll take
approximately 1520 minutes and everything is completely confdential. If you
have some time, I would really appreciate your help. Also, please pass it on
to anyone 18+ years of age who you think would be willing to take it.
http://edu.surveygizmo.com/s3/1118225/Investigating-the-Relationship-Between-
Typography-and-Clothing-Brand-Personality
Thank you!
-
Rita
1
1. Please indicate your gender
o Male
o Female
2. Please indicate your age
o 1822
o 2330
o 3140
o 4150
o 5160
o 61+
3. Have you had training or education in graphic design?
o Yes
o No

The primary goal of this research project is to explore perceptions of brand
personality in the clothing industry when different typefaces are used. If you
agree to participate in this study, you will be asked to fll out a survey concerning
your perception of brand personality in eight logotypes. The survey will take
approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Data will be kept anonymous and will be
collected by SurveyGizmo. There are no expected risks for participants taking
part in this project. This study will help graphic designers choose appropriate
typefaces for clothing brands that deliver the intended message.
The following survey will provide a Rochester Institute of Technology graduate
student with important information for thesis research. Your participation is
entirely voluntary and all answers will remain confdential. Refusing to participate
involves no penalty and you may stop participating at any time without penalty.
If you agree to participate in this study and acknowlege your informed consent,
please continue for further directions. Otherwise, if you do not consent,
please close the browser window. Questions or concerns can be sent
to rxy2053@rit.edu. Thank you
Investigating the Relationship Between
Typography and Clothing Brand Personality
2
Please answer the following questions by referring to the logo shown below.
On a scale of 15, where 1 is Strongly Disagree and 5 is Strongly Agree,
please rank the traits as they relate to the logo. Only select one answer per trait.
Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
Disagree Agree
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
4. Do you feel that it would be a high-end or low-end clothing brand?
o High-end
o Low-end

Traits

5. Friendly
6. Young
7. Contemporary
8. Cheerful
9. Reliable
10. Unique
11. Exciting
12. Sexy
13. Family-oriented
14. Masculine
15. Glamorous
16. Tough
17. Sophisticated
18. Casual
19. Feminine
20. Confdent
3
Disagree Agree
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
o High-end
o Low-end

Traits

22. Friendly
23. Young
24. Contemporary
25. Cheerful
26. Reliable
27. Unique
28. Exciting
29. Sexy
30. Family-oriented
31. Masculine
32. Glamorous
33. Tough
34. Sophisticated
35. Casual
36. Feminine
37. Confdent
4
o High-end
o Low-end

Traits

39. Friendly
40. Young
41. Contemporary
42. Cheerful
43. Reliable
44. Unique
45. Exciting
46. Sexy
47. Family-oriented
48. Masculine
49. Glamorous
50. Tough
51. Sophisticated
52. Casual
53. Feminine
54. Confdent
Disagree Agree
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
5
Disagree Agree
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
o High-end
o Low-end

Traits

56. Friendly
57. Young
58. Contemporary
59. Cheerful
60. Reliable
61. Unique
62. Exciting
63. Sexy
64. Family-oriented
65. Masculine
66. Glamorous
67. Tough
68. Sophisticated
69. Casual
70. Feminine
71. Confdent
6
Disagree Agree
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
o High-end
o Low-end

Traits

73. Friendly
74. Young
75. Contemporary
76. Cheerful
77. Reliable
78. Unique
79. Exciting
80. Sexy
81. Family-oriented
82. Masculine
83. Glamorous
84. Tough
85. Sophisticated
86. Casual
87. Feminine
88. Confdent
7
Disagree Agree
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
o High-end
o Low-end

Traits

90. Friendly
91. Young
92. Contemporary
93. Cheerful
94. Reliable
95. Unique
96. Exciting
97. Sexy
98. Family-oriented
99. Masculine
100. Glamorous
101. Tough
102. Sophisticated
103. Casual
104. Feminine
105. Confdent
8
Disagree Agree
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
o High-end
o Low-end

Traits

107. Friendly
108. Young
109. Contemporary
110. Cheerful
111. Reliable
112. Unique
113. Exciting
114. Sexy
115. Family-oriented
116. Masculine
117. Glamorous
118. Tough
119. Sophisticated
120. Casual
121. Feminine
122. Confdent
9
Disagree Agree
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
o High-end
o Low-end

Traits

124. Friendly
125. Young
126. Contemporary
127. Cheerful
128. Reliable
129. Unique
130. Exciting
131. Sexy
132. Family-oriented
133. Masculine
134. Glamorous
135. Tough
136. Sophisticated
137. Casual
138. Feminine
139. Confdent
A4 Survey Data
Age Female Male Total
1822 37 80 117
2330 57 32 89
3140 7 5 12
4150 4 2 6
5160 8 6 14
61+ 8 5 13
All Ages 121 130 251
Trained in
Graphic Design
20
35
4
3
1
1
64
Demographics
Design 1
Traits Age
18-22 23-30 31-50 51+ Overall
Friendly 32% 17% 28% 33% 26%
Young 23% 10% 6% 26% 18%
Contemporary 42% 60% 33% 41% 47%
Cheerful 13% 7% 17% 26% 12%
Reliable 80% 73% 83% 48% 74%
Unique 32% 20% 6% 15% 24%
Exciting 19% 10% 11% 7% 14%
Sexy 22% 27% 11% 19% 23%
Family-oriented 21% 22% 17% 19% 21%
Masculine 21% 10% 6% 26% 16%
Glamorous 46% 61% 50% 22% 49%
Tough 22% 11% 6% 26% 18%
Sophisticated 73% 85% 72% 44% 74%
Casual 31% 17% 28% 30% 26%
Feminine 65% 73% 83% 56% 68%
Confdent 78% 82% 83% 59% 78%
Traits Age
18-22 23-30 31-50 51+ Overall
Friendly 47% 29% 17% 33% 37%
Young 47% 31% 39% 41% 40%
Contemporary 49% 70% 94% 85% 63%
Cheerful 21% 19% 6% 22% 20%
Reliable 58% 57% 56% 59% 58%
Unique 64% 33% 67% 59% 53%
Exciting 39% 19% 39% 37% 32%
Sexy 34% 33% 33% 37% 34%
Masculine 41% 51% 67% 48% 47%
Glamorous 38% 43% 50% 41% 41%
Tough 15% 11% 11% 19% 14%
Sophisticated 69% 81% 94% 78% 76%
Casual 32% 25% 22% 33% 29%
Feminine 37% 30% 22% 22% 33%
Confdent 81% 83% 78% 78% 77%
Design 2
Traits Age
18-22 23-30 31-50 51+ Overall
Friendly 46% 45% 44% 44% 45%
Young 44% 54% 61% 56% 50%
Contemporary 39% 56% 67% 48% 48%
Cheerful 35% 34% 44% 41% 36%
Reliable 42% 39% 44% 59% 43%
Unique 15% 15% 11% 30% 16%
Exciting 17% 14% 11% 26% 16%
Sexy 14% 21% 6% 26% 17%
Masculine 23% 23% 22% 48% 25%
Glamorous 21% 23% 6% 19% 20%
Tough 24% 22% 6% 48% 25%
Sophisticated 27% 24% 11% 26% 25%
Casual 62% 62% 72% 52% 62%
Feminine 44% 48% 56% 30% 45%
Confdent 51% 52% 50% 63% 53%
Design 3
Traits Age
18-22 23-30 31-50 51+ Overall
Friendly 52% 71% 72% 52% 60%
Young 49% 50% 83% 56% 52%
Contemporary 44% 63% 78% 56% 54%
Cheerful 34% 52% 56% 37% 42%
Reliable 40% 46% 45% 33% 42%
Unique 41% 38% 33% 37% 39%
Exciting 20% 24% 28% 15% 21%
Sexy 22% 23% 6% 19% 21%
Masculine 7% 10% 11% 22% 10%
Glamorous 28% 25% 17% 11% 22%
Tough 13% 12% 17% 19% 14%
Sophisticated 38% 43% 33% 26% 38%
Casual 54% 58% 72% 63% 58%
Feminine 44% 59% 56% 37% 49%
Confdent 43% 51% 50% 31% 45%
Design 4
Traits Age
18-22 23-30 31-50 51+ Overall
Friendly 37% 17% 22% 26% 28%
Young 47% 11% 33% 30% 32%
Contemporary 50% 70% 67% 44% 58%
Cheerful 24% 12% 6% 30% 19%
Reliable 77% 72% 56% 56% 71%
Unique 68% 36% 28% 44% 52%
Exciting 51% 21% 11% 30% 36%
Sexy 50% 47% 45% 33% 47%
Masculine 61% 64% 61% 59% 62%
Glamorous 44% 45% 45% 33% 43%
Tough 41% 36% 28% 44% 39%
Sophisticated 76% 79% 72% 52% 74%
Casual 27% 18% 22% 30% 24%
Feminine 27% 24% 22% 7% 23%
Confdent 84% 79% 83% 67% 80%
Design 5
Traits Age
18-22 23-30 31-50 51+ Overall
Friendly 62% 68% 61% 52% 63%
Young 54% 66% 67% 52% 59%
Contemporary 44% 62% 78% 48% 53%
Cheerful 51% 60% 56% 44% 54%
Reliable 45% 36% 50% 52% 43%
Unique 39% 21% 28% 44% 33%
Exciting 40% 33% 33% 33% 36%
Sexy 29% 20% 17% 26% 25%
Masculine 13% 3% 11% 7% 9%
Glamorous 39% 23% 39% 30% 32%
Tough 13% 1% 11% 7% 8%
Sophisticated 36% 40% 50% 41% 44%
Casual 44% 58% 1% 48% 51%
Feminine 62% 69% 78% 59% 65%
Confdent 58% 46% 67% 44% 53%
Design 6
Traits Age
18-22 23-30 31-50 51+ Overall
Friendly 46% 31% 50% 63% 43%
Young 13% 9% 6% 30% 13%
Contemporary 38% 35% 17% 33% 35%
Cheerful 24% 21% 22% 41% 25%
Reliable 77% 79% 67% 48% 74%
Unique 56% 29% 22% 44% 43%
Exciting 31% 12% 6% 19% 21%
Sexy 15% 9% 6% 7% 12%
Masculine 50% 65% 56% 19% 53%
Glamorous 27% 20% 6% 7% 21%
Tough 32% 24% 6% 30% 27%
Sophisticated 62% 66% 44% 37% 59%
Casual 33% 27% 44% 48% 33%
Feminine 22% 19% 28% 19% 21%
Confdent 75% 72% 56% 48% 70%
Design 7
Traits Age
18-22 23-30 31-50 51+ Overall
Friendly 59% 46% 44% 26% 50%
Young 54% 40% 44% 33% 46%
Contemporary 50% 45% 44% 56% 48%
Cheerful 39% 37% 28% 26% 36%
Reliable 45% 29% 28% 41% 38%
Unique 31% 28% 17% 33% 29%
Exciting 31% 19% 17% 22% 25%
Sexy 19% 15% 0% 19% 16%
Masculine 31% 22% 11% 33% 27%
Glamorous 16% 15% 11% 22% 16%
Tough 26% 18% 11% 26% 22%
Sophisticated 26% 28% 28% 44% 29%
Casual 56% 58% 33% 37% 53%
Feminine 32% 37% 17% 30% 32%
Confdent 51% 34% 28% 59% 44%
Design 8
Traits Designs
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Friendly 17% 29% 45% 71% 17% 68% 31% 46%
Young 10% 31% 54% 50% 11% 66% 9% 40%
Contemporary 60% 70% 56% 63% 70% 62% 35% 45%
Cheerful 7% 19% 34% 52% 12% 60% 21% 37%
Reliable 73% 57% 39% 46% 72% 36% 79% 29%
Unique 20% 33% 15% 38% 36% 21% 29% 28%
Exciting 10% 19% 14% 24% 21% 33% 12% 19%
Sexy 27% 33% 21% 23% 47% 20% 9% 15%
Family-oriented 22% 12% 25% 52% 6% 45% 59% 39%
Masculine 10% 51% 23% 10% 64% 3% 65% 22%
Glamorous 61% 43% 23% 25% 45% 23% 20% 15%
Tough 11% 11% 22% 12% 36% 1% 24% 18%
Sophisticated 85% 81% 24% 43% 79% 40% 66% 28%
Casual 17% 25% 62% 58% 18% 58% 27% 58%
Feminine 73% 30% 48% 59% 24% 69% 19% 37%
Confdent 82% 83% 52% 51% 79% 46% 72% 34%
2330
Traits Designs
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Friendly 32% 47% 46% 52% 37% 62% 46% 59%
Young 23% 47% 44% 49% 47% 54% 13% 54%
Contemporary 42% 49% 39% 44% 50% 44% 38% 50%
Cheerful 13% 21% 35% 34% 24% 51% 24% 39%
Reliable 80% 58% 42% 40% 77% 45% 77% 45%
Unique 32% 64% 15% 41% 68% 39% 56% 31%
Exciting 19% 39% 17% 20% 51% 40% 31% 31%
Sexy 22% 34% 14% 22% 50% 29% 15% 19%
Family-oriented 21% 11% 45% 32% 10% 41% 47% 46%
Masculine 21% 41% 23% 7% 61% 13% 50% 31%
Glamorous 46% 38% 21% 28% 44% 39% 27% 16%
Tough 22% 15% 24% 13% 41% 13% 32% 26%
Sophisticated 73% 69% 27% 38% 76% 36% 62% 26%
Casual 31% 32% 62% 54% 27% 44% 33% 56%
Feminine 65% 37% 44% 44% 27% 62% 22% 32%
Confdent 78% 81% 51% 43% 84% 58% 75% 51%
1822
Traits Designs
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Friendly 33% 33% 44% 52% 26% 52% 63% 26%
Young 26% 41% 56% 56% 30% 52% 30% 33%
Contemporary 41% 85% 48% 56% 44% 48% 33% 56%
Cheerful 26% 22% 41% 37% 30% 44% 41% 26%
Reliable 48% 59% 59% 33% 56% 52% 48% 41%
Unique 15% 59% 30% 37% 44% 44% 44% 33%
Exciting 7% 37% 26% 15% 30% 33% 19% 22%
Sexy 19% 37% 26% 19% 33% 26% 7% 19%
Family-oriented 19% 22% 30% 41% 37% 41% 56% 30%
Masculine 26% 48% 48% 22% 59% 7% 19% 33%
Glamorous 22% 41% 19% 11% 33% 30% 7% 22%
Tough 26% 19% 48% 19% 44% 7% 30% 26%
Sophisticated 44% 78% 26% 26% 52% 41% 37% 44%
Casual 30% 33% 52% 63% 30% 48% 48% 37%
Feminine 56% 22% 30% 37% 7% 59% 19% 30%
Confdent 59% 78% 63% 31% 67% 44% 48% 59%
51+
Traits Designs
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Friendly 28% 17% 44% 72% 22% 61% 50% 44%
Young 6% 39% 61% 83% 33% 67% 6% 44%
Contemporary 33% 94% 67% 78% 67% 78% 17% 44%
Cheerful 17% 6% 44% 56% 6% 56% 22% 28%
Reliable 83% 56% 44% 45% 56% 50% 67% 28%
Unique 6% 67% 11% 33% 28% 28% 22% 17%
Exciting 11% 39% 11% 28% 11% 33% 6% 17%
Sexy 11% 33% 6% 6% 45% 17% 6% 0%
Family-oriented 17% 11% 28% 39% 0% 33% 67% 22%
Masculine 6% 67% 22% 11% 61% 11% 56% 11%
Glamorous 50% 50% 6% 17% 45% 39% 6% 11%
Tough 6% 11% 6% 17% 28% 11% 6% 11%
Sophisticated 72% 94% 11% 33% 72% 50% 44% 28%
Casual 28% 22% 72% 72% 22% 1% 44% 33%
Feminine 83% 22% 56% 56% 22% 78% 28% 17%
Confdent 83% 78% 50% 50% 83% 67% 56% 28%
3150
Traits Type Attributes
Sans Serif
High
Contrast
Low
Contrast
Tight
Spacing
Loose
Spacing
Bold Regular
Friendly x x x x
Young x x x x
Contemporary x x
Cheerful x x x x
Reliable x x x
Unique x x
Exciting x x x x
Sexy x x
Masculine x x x
Glamorous x x
Tough x x x x
Sophisticated x x x
Casual x x x
Feminine x x
Confdent x x x
Sans Serif
High
Contrast
Low
Contrast
Tight
Spacing
Loose
Spacing
Bold Regular
Friendly x x x x
Young x x x x
Contemporary x
Cheerful x x
Reliable x x
Unique x x x
Exciting
Sexy
Masculine
Glamorous x
Tough
Sophisticated x x x x
Casual x x x
Feminine x x
Confdent x x x
Overall
Male
Sans Serif
High
Contrast
Low
Contrast
Tight
Spacing
Loose
Spacing
Bold Regular
Friendly x x x
Young x x x x
Contemporary x x
Cheerful x x x x
Reliable x x x
Unique x
Exciting x
Sexy
Family-oriented x x
Masculine x
Glamorous x
Tough
Sophisticated x x x
Casual x x x
Feminine x x x
Confdent x x x x
Female
1822
Sans Serif
High
Contrast
Low
Contrast
Tight
Spacing
Loose
Spacing
Bold Regular
Friendly x x x
Young x x x x
Contemporary
Cheerful x x x x
Reliable x x
Unique x x x x
Exciting x
Sexy
Family-oriented x x
Masculine x
Glamorous x
Tough
Sophisticated x x x
Casual x x x
Feminine x x
Confdent x x x
Sans Serif
High
Contrast
Low
Contrast
Tight
Spacing
Loose
Spacing
Bold Regular
Friendly x x x x
Young x x x
Contemporary x x
Cheerful x x x x
Reliable x x x
Unique
Exciting
Sexy
Family-oriented x x
Masculine x
Glamorous x x x x
Tough
Sophisticated x x x
Casual x x x x
Feminine x x
Confdent x x x x
2330
3150
Sans Serif
High
Contrast
Low
Contrast
Tight
Spacing
Loose
Spacing
Bold Regular
Friendly x x
Young x x x
Contemporary x x x
Cheerful x x
Reliable x
Unique x x
Exciting
Sexy
Family-oriented
Masculine
Glamorous x
Tough
Sophisticated x
Casual x x
Feminine
Confdent x
Sans Serif
High
Contrast
Low
Contrast
Tight
Spacing
Loose
Spacing
Bold Regular
Friendly x
Young x x x
Contemporary x x
Cheerful
Reliable
Unique x
Exciting
Sexy
Family-oriented
Masculine
Glamorous
Tough x x
Sophisticated x
Casual x x
Feminine
Confdent x
51+
Sans Serif
High
Contrast
Low
Contrast
Tight
Spacing
Loose
Spacing
Bold Regular
Friendly x x
Young x x x
Contemporary
Cheerful x x x
Reliable x x
Unique x
Exciting
Sexy
Family-oriented
Masculine x x
Glamorous
Tough
Sophisticated x x x
Casual x x x
Feminine x
Confdent x x
Male 1822
Male 2330
Sans Serif
High
Contrast
Low
Contrast
Tight
Spacing
Loose
Spacing
Bold Regular
Friendly x x x x
Young x x
Contemporary x
Cheerful x x
Reliable x x x
Unique
Exciting
Sexy
Family-oriented x
Masculine
Glamorous x
Tough
Sophisticated x x x
Casual x x x
Feminine x x
Confdent x x x
Sans Serif
High
Contrast
Low
Contrast
Tight
Spacing
Loose
Spacing
Bold Regular
Friendly x
Young x x x
Contemporary x
Cheerful
Reliable x
Unique
Exciting
Sexy
Family-oriented
Masculine
Glamorous
Tough
Sophisticated x
Casual x x
Feminine
Confdent x
Male 3150
Male 51+
Sans Serif
High
Contrast
Low
Contrast
Tight
Spacing
Loose
Spacing
Bold Regular
Friendly
Young x x
Contemporary x x x
Cheerful x
Reliable x
Unique x x
Exciting
Sexy
Family-oriented
Masculine
Glamorous x
Tough x x
Sophisticated
Casual
Feminine
Confdent x
Sans Serif
High
Contrast
Low
Contrast
Tight
Spacing
Loose
Spacing
Bold Regular
Friendly x x
Young x x x
Contemporary
Cheerful x
Reliable x
Unique x x x x
Exciting
Sexy
Family-oriented x
Masculine
Glamorous x
Tough
Sophisticated x x x x
Casual x x x
Feminine x x
Confdent x x
Female 1822
Female 2330
Sans Serif
High
Contrast
Low
Contrast
Tight
Spacing
Loose
Spacing
Bold Regular
Friendly x x x x
Young x x x
Contemporary x
Cheerful x x
Reliable x x
Unique
Exciting
Sexy x
Family-oriented x x
Masculine
Glamorous x x
Tough
Sophisticated x x x
Casual x x x
Feminine x x
Confdent x x
Sans Serif
High
Contrast
Low
Contrast
Tight
Spacing
Loose
Spacing
Bold Regular
Friendly x
Young x x
Contemporary x x x
Cheerful x x
Reliable x
Unique
Exciting
Sexy
Family-oriented x
Masculine
Glamorous
Tough
Sophisticated
Casual
Feminine
Confdent
Female 3150
Female 51+
Sans Serif
High
Contrast
Low
Contrast
Tight
Spacing
Loose
Spacing
Bold Regular
Friendly
Young x
Contemporary
Cheerful
Reliable
Unique
Exciting
Sexy
Family-oriented
Masculine
Glamorous
Tough x
Sophisticated
Casual x x
Feminine
Confdent
A5 Logo Development
style
comfort
models
fexible
outft
fashion
fad
suit
tie
dress
vogue
label
stitch
material
appearance
pattern
cloth
body
beauty
curves
cut
tailor
measure
fabric
texture
sew
needle
thread
trend
Word Association
Clothing
Brand
Typography
Guide
identity
perception
strategy
design
consumer
communication
vision
impression
image
perspective
familiarity
statement
tracking
kerning
leading
anatomy
descender
ascender
bowl
counter
height
width
personality
weight
personifcation
contrast
sans serif
serif
letter
form
message
font
typeface
logo
text
language
word
suggestions
rules
guidelines
manual
standards
handbook
lead
order
follow
design
model
direction
advice
choose
select
pick
gather
example
recommendation
instruction
direct
Tailoied Type
TAILORED TYPE
tailoied type
1:iioviu 1vvi
: cio1uic nv:u 1vvocv:vuv cUiui
Tailored Type
TAILORED TYPE
tailored type
TAILORED TYPE
A CLOTHING BRAND TYPOGRAPHY GUIDE
Tailored Type
TAILORED TYIE
tailored type
r.iiovn rvvv
. ciornic n.n rvvoc.vnv cuinv
Tailored Type
TAILORED TYPE
tailored type
TAILORED TYPE
tailored type
tailor your type
tailored type personality
type suit
outftted type
outftted logo
label model
clothing type model
clothing type manual
type model
suited statement
type statement
style perception
type perception
fexible type
stitched type
measured type
label identity
model strategy
type strategy
clothing type strategy
type perspective
type impression
clothing type perception
model type
label language
clothing type anatomy
model type standards
fexible clothing type
clothing type style
suited clothing type
Word List Combinations
Typeface Exploration
TailoredType
TAILOREDTYPE
tailoredtype
TAILOREDTYPE
ACLOTHINGBRANDTYPOGRAPHYGUIDE
Tailored Type
TAILORED TYPE
tailored type
TAI LORED TYPE
Tailored Type
TAILORED TYPE
tailored type
TAILORED TYPE
Tailored Type
TAILORED TYPE
tailored type
TAILORED TYPE
Tailored Type
TAILORED TYPE
tailored type
TAILORED TYPE
Tailored Type
TAILORED TYPE
tailored type
TAI LORED TYPE
Tailored Type
TAILORED TYPE
tailored type

Tailored Type
TAILORED TYPE
tailored type
TAILORED TYPE
Tailored Type
TAILORED TYPE
tailored type
TAI LORED TYPE
Tailored Type
TAILORED TYPE
tailored type
TAI LORED TYPE
Tailored Type
TAILORED TYPE
tailored type
TAILORED TYPE
Tailored Type
TAILORED TYPE
tailored type
TAILORED TYPE
TAI LOREDTYPE
A Clothing Brand Typography Guide
raiioiio r\ii
A CLOTHI NG BRAND TYPOGRAPHY GUI DE
raiioiio r\ii
TAILOREDTYPE
a ciorui wc niawo r\iociaiu\ cuioi
TAI LOREDTYPE
a ciorui wc niawo r\iociaiu\ cuioi

TAILOREDTYPE
a clothing brand typography guide
TAILOREDTYPE
a clothing brand t ypography guide
TAILORED
TAILORED
a clot hi ng brand t ypography guide
TAILOREDTYPE
TAILOREDTYPE
a clothing brand t ypography guide
TAILORED
TAILORED
a clot hi ng brand t ypography guide
Logotypes
TAILORED
. ciornic n.n rvvoc.vnv cuinv
TAI LORED
r.iiovnTYPE
TYPE
TYPE
TYPE
TYPE
TYPE
TYPE
TYPE
TYPE
TYPE
TYPE
TYPE
TYPE
TAILOREDTYPE
TAILOREDTYPE
TAILOREDTYPE
TYPE
TYPE
TYPE
TAILOREDTYPE
TYPE
TYPE
TAI LOREDTYPE
TAILOREDTYPE
TYPE
TAILOREDTYPE
TAILOREDTYPE
TAILOREDTYPE
TAILOREDTYPE
TAILOREDTYPE
TAILOREDTYPE
TAILOREDTYPE
TAILOREDTYPE
TAILOREDTYPE
TYPE
TAILOREDTYPE
TAILOREDTYPE
TAILOREDTYPE
TAILOREDTYPE
TYPE
TAI LOREDTYPE
TAILOREDTYPE
TAILOREDTYPE
TYPE
TAILOREDTYPE
TAILOREDTYPE
TAILOREDTYPE
TYPE
TAILOREDTYPE
TAILOREDTYPE
TAILOREDTYPE
TAILOREDTYPE
TYPE
Climate Wisconsin - climatewisconsin.org/story/ice-cover
Sidebar of information
Fixed position selection list
Guide progress/status
Live graph update
Information highlight
10 Years of Daring Fireball - distantshape.com/df10/
User preference
Color coded graph based on subject
Drake Equation - www.bbc.com/future/story/20120821-how-many-alien-worlds-exist
Preset options
Calculate answer based on selections
Live update of answer
See numbers adjusting
Gold Farming - www.attsavings.com/gold-farming
Enter/Input button
Header dropdown
Information automatically scrolls up
Customized data
GOOD: Energy - awesome.good.is/transparency/web/1101/good-energy/interactive.html
Filter buttons
Icons + Text
Grouped into categories
(generation and consumption)
GOOD: Energy - awesome.good.is/transparency/web/1101/good-energy/interactive.html
Icon, %, and text
Live update charts
Color spins around/flls up
His and Hers Colors - www.datapointed.net/visualizations/color/men-women-color-names-d3/
Filter
No active state
User needs to remember which
button they clicked on
His and Hers Colors - www.datapointed.net/visualizations/color/men-women-color-names-d3/
Hollywood Budgets - hollywood-budgets.devgordon.com/
Quick buttons
Filter
Live update
Hovering brings up title of movie
Household Expenses - geographics.cz/household-expenses/
Introduction/information blurb
Icons + Text
Active categories
Hovering colorizes bars and shows %
Subcategory
Your Post-Election Taxes - www.smartasset.com/infographic/election/
Numbers animate
Customized data
Resources Futures - resourcesfutures.org/#!/introduction
Simple and clean intro page
Hovering gives title of section
Pages styled similar to parallax scroll
Pages scroll then snap to position
Resources Futures - resourcesfutures.org/#!/introduction
Next section button
Filtering options with icon + text
Spotlight - spotlight.abs.gov.au/
Clear start button
Animated stats fy into position
Selection/hover state
STL Beacon - stlbeacon.org/images/stories/healthscience/std/
Different view/flter
Type a zip code
(multiple ways of selection)
Click on a zip code
Click area of zip code
STL Beacon - stlbeacon.org/images/stories/healthscience/std/
Disease flter
Information animates
Information horizontally slides in
UK Energy Consumption Guide - evoenergy.co.uk/uk-energy-guide/
Sky/background changes color
when scrolled down
Toggle view/information
Hint/help
Toggle view/information
UK Energy Consumption Guide - evoenergy.co.uk/uk-energy-guide/
Animates fltered %
Filter
US Electoral Compass - labs.brandwatch.com/uselection/
Numbered steps
Instruction
Updated selection
Live update
Quick buttons
US Electoral Compass - labs.brandwatch.com/uselection/
Color coded sections
Wall Street Journal - online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204846304578095160441448532.html
Previous/next buttons
Horizontally swaps out
Women in UE Parliament - www.20minutos.es/grafcos/mujeres-parlamentarias-en-la-union-europea-6/0/
Selected country
Hover over rings to see information
animate and update
A7 Final Application Screen Shots
A8 User Feedback
User 1
User 2
User 3
User 4
User 5
User 6
User 7
User 8
User 9
User 10
User 11
User 12
User 13
User 14
User 15
User 16
User 17
User 18
User 19
User 20
User 21
User 22
User 23
A9 Acknowledgments
Professors Nancy Ciolek, Lorrie Frear, and Carol Fillip
for their guidance
for providing me with knowledge and opportunities
My Family & Friends
for their continuous support and encouragement

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A Thesis submitted to the Faculty

of the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences

a ciorui wc niawo r\iociaiu\ cuioi

A CLOTHI NG BRAND TYPOGRAPHY GUI DE

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